FROM   THE  LIBRARY  OF 
REV.    LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON.  D.  D. 

BEQUEATHED   BY  HIM   TO 

THE   LIBRARY  OF 

PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


3' 


p 


s 


INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC 


IN  THE 


PUBLIC  WORSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 


INSTRUMENTAL  MIS1" 


IN  THE 


rriiuc  woHsinr 


OF 


THE    CHTJKCH. 


JOHN    L.    GIRARDEAU, 

Professor  in  Columbia  Theological  Seminaky,  South  Carolina. 


RICHMOND.    VA: 

Whittet  A   Sm  i  .;\m  !.-.   LOO]  Main  Bj 

188 


Copyright 

by 

JOHN    L.    GIRARDEAU, 

1888. 


.•REPACK. 


The  following  treatise  owes  its  origin  to  a  desire 
expressed  by  members  of  the  last  Senior  Class  in  Col- 
umbia Theological  Seminary  to  hear  a  discussion  of 
the  question  whether  instrumental  music  may  be  legit- 
imately used  in  the  public  worship  of  the  Church. 
I  of  deep  convictions  on  that  subject,  the 
writer  could  not  refuse  compliance  with  such  a  re- 
quest, and  accordingly  delivered  a  course  of  lectures 
to  the  class.  A  dear  Christian  friend,  who  heard  one 
of  these  lectures  preached  as  a  sermon,  suggested  the 
propriety  of  their  being  published,  and  being  aware 
that  the  writer  was  not  encumbered  with  a  superfluity 
of  this  world's  goods,  generously  tendered  the  means 
to  render  the  suggestion  practical.  Although  cautioned 
that  she  might  make  a  useless  pecuniary  sacrifice  afl 
the  current  of  the  Church's  views  is  now  set  in  a  direc- 
tion opposed  to  the  doctrine  of  the  treatise,  she  insisted 
upon  executing  her  intention,  on  the  ground  that  she 
would  contribute  to  erect  a  testimony  to  the  truth. 
Hence  the  appearance  of  this  little  book  before  the 
public. 


6  PKEFACE. 

It  will,  no  doubt,  be  said  that  the  attempt  to  prove 
the  unjustifiable  employment  of  instrumental  music  in 
the  public  worship  of  the  Church  is  schismatical,  since 
the  practice  is  now  well-nigh  universal ;  that  it  is  trivial, 
inasmuch  as  it  concerns  a  mere  circumstantial  in  the 
services  of  religion ;  and  that  it  is  useless,  as  the  ten- 
dency which  is  resisted  is  invincible,  and  is  destined  to 
triumph  throughout  Protestant  Christendom.  To  all 
this  one  answer  alone  is  offered,  and  it  is  sufficient, 
namely :  that  the  attempt  is  grounded  in  truth.  It  in- 
volves a  contest  for  a  mighty  and  all-comprehending 
principle,  by  opposing  one  of  the  special  forms  in 
which  it  is  now  commonly  transcended  and  violated. 
It  is  that  principle,  emphasized  in  the  following  re- 
marks as  scriptural  and  regulative,  that  lends  impor- 
tance to  the  discussion,  and  redeems  it  from  the  re- 
proach of  being  narrow  and  trifling. 

The  argument  is  commended  to  the  consideration 
of  any  of  God's  people  into  whose  hands  it  may  fall ; 
but  it  is  especially  addressed  to  Presbyterians,  to  whose 
venerable  standards,  as  well  as  directly  to  the  Scrip- 
tures, the  appeal  for  proof  is  taken.  They  are  en- 
treated to  read  it,  and  to  render  judgment  according 
to  the  evidence  submitted.  May  that  Almighty  Spirit, 
whose  illumination  our  divine  Lord  and  Saviour  prom- 
ised to  his  followers,  guide  each  reader  to  the  truth ! 

Columbia.  S.  C. 


C  0  S  T  E  N  T  S. 


I'AiiK. 

The  Question  Stated, 9 

I.  General  Argument  from  Scripture,  ...  9 

II.  Argument  from  the  Old  Testament,            .         .  27 

HI.  Argument  from  the  New  Testament,          .         .  80 

IV.  Argument  from  the  Presbyterian  Stand  arks,     .  123 

V.  Historical  Argument,         .....  155 

VI.  Arguments  in  Favor  of  Instrumental  Music  Con- 
sidered,       .......  180 

VTI.  Concluding  Remarks, 200 


INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC 

IN    THE 

PUBLIC    WORSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 


In  the  discussion  of  the  question,  Whether  the  use 
of  instrumental  music  iu  the  worship  of  the  church  is 
permissible  or  uot,  it  must  be  premised: 

First,  that  the  question  is  not  in  regard  to  private  or 
family  worship,  or  to  that  of  social  gatherings  which 
are  not  ecclesiastical  in  their  nature,  nor  with  reference 
to  the  utility  or  tastefulness  of  instrumental  music,  nor 
in  relation  to  the  abuse  to  which  it  maybe  liable;  but, 

S  'in//;/,  the  question  is  precisely,  Is  the  use  of  in- 
strumental music  in  the  public  worship  of  the  church 
justifiabb  t  The  design  of  this  discussion  is,  with  the 
help  of  the  divine  Spirit,  to  prove  the  negative. 

I. 

The  General  Argument  prom  Scripture. 
Attention,  at  the  outset,  is  invoked  to  the  considera- 
tions which  serve  to  establish  the  following  controlling 
principle :  A  divine  warrant  is  necessary  for  every  ele- 
ment of  doctrine,  government  and  worship  in  the 
church;  that  is,  whatsoever  in  these  spheres  is  not 
commanded  in  the  Scriptures,  either  expressly  or  by 
good  and  necessary  consequence  from  their  statements, 
rbidcU  //. 


10  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

1.  This  principle  is  deducible  by  logical  inference 
from  the  great  truth — confessed  by  Protestants — that 
the  Scriptures  are  an  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  prac- 
tice, and  therefore  supreme,  perfect  and  sufficient  for 
all  the  needs  of  the  Church.  "  All  Scripture  is  given 
by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for  doctrine,  for 
reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness : 
that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  fur- 
nished unto  all  good  works."  This  truth  operates  posi- 
tively to  the  inclusion  of  everything  in  the  doctrine, 
government  and  worship  of  the  church  which  is  com- 
manded, explicitly  or  implicitly,  in  the  Scriptures,  and 
negatively  to  the  exclusion  of  everything  which  is  not  so 
commanded. 

2.  This  principle  of  the  necessity  of  a  divine  warrant 
for  everything  in  the  faith  and  practice  of  the  church 
is  proved  by  didactic  statements  of  Scripture. 

Num.  xv.  39,  40  :  "  Eemember  all  the  commandments 
of  the  Lord  and  do  them ;  and  that  ye  seek  not  after 
your  own  heart  and  your  own  eyes,  after  which  ye  use 
to  go  a  whoring :  that  ye  may  remember  and  do  all  my 
commandments,  and  be  holy  unto  your  God."  Ex. 
xxv.  40:  "And  look  that  thou  make  them  after  their 
pattern,  which  was  showed  thee  in  the  mount."  Heb. 
viii.  5:  "Who  serve  unto  the  example  and  shadow  of 
heavenly  things,  as  Moses  was  admonished  of  God, 
when  he  was  about  to  make  the  tabernacle :  for,  See, 
saith  he,  that  thou  make  all  things  according  to  the 
pattern  showed  to  thee  in  the  mount."  Deut.  iv.  2: 
"Ye  shall  not  add  unto  the  word  which  I  command 
you,  neither  shall  ye  diminish  aught  from  it,  that  ye 
may  keep  the  commandments  of  the  Lord  your  God 


GENERAL  ARGUMENT  PROM  SCRIPTURE.  11 

which  I  command  you."  Dent.  xii.  32:  "Whai  thing 
soever  T  command  \  on,  observe  to  do  it :  thou  Bhali  n<  »t 

add  thereto,  nor  diminish  from  it."  Prov.  x\\.  5,  6: 
••  Every  word  of  God  is  pure:  he  is  a  shield  unto  them 
that  put  their  trust  in  him.  Add  thou  not  unto  his 
words,  lest  he  reprove  thee,  and  thou  be  found  a  liar." 
Isa.  yiii.  20:  "  To  the  law  and  to  the  testimony:  if  they 
speak  not  according  to  this  word,  it  is  because  there  is 
no  light  in  them."  Dan.  ii.  44:  "And  in  the  days  of 
these  kings  shall  the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a  kingdom, 
which  shall  never  he  destroyed  :  and  the  kingdom  shall 
not  he  left  to  other  people."  Matt.  xv.  6  :  "Thus  have 
ye  made  the  commandment  of  God  of  none  effect  by 
your  tradition."  Matt,  xxviii.  19,  20:  "Go  ye,  there- 
fore, and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost: 
teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have 
commanded  you."  Col.  ii.  20-23:  "Wherefore  if  ye 
he  dead  with  Christ  from  the  rudiments  of  the  world, 
why,  as  though  living  in  the  world,  are  ye  subject  to 
ordinances,  (touch  not;  taste  not;  handle  not;  which 
are  all  to  perish  with  the  using ; )  after  the  command- 
ments and  doctrines  of  men?  which  things  have  indeed 
a  shew  of  wisdom  in  will-worship,  and  humility,  and 
neglecting  of  the  body;  not  in  any  honor  to  the  satis- 
fying of  the  flesh."  2  Tim.  iii.  16,  17:  "All  scripture 
i>  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for  doc- 
trine, for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  right- 
eousness: that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  thor- 
oughly furnished  unto  all  good  works."'  Rev.  xxii.  IS, 
l'.> :  "For  1  testify  unto  every  man  that  heareth  the 
words  of  the  prophecy  of  this  book.    If  any   m.iii   shall 


12  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

add  unto  these  things,  God  shall  add  unto  him  the 
plagues  that  are  written  in  this  book :  and  if  any  man 
shall  take  away  from  the  words  of  the  book  of  this  pro- 
phecy, God  shall  take  away  his  part  out  of  the  book  of 
life,  and  out  of  the  holy  city,  and  out  of  the  things 
which  are  written  in  this  book." 

These  solemn  statements  and  awful  warnings  teach 
us  the  lesson,  that  to  introduce  any  devices  and  inven- 
tions of  our  own  into  the  doctrine,  government  or  wor- 
ship of  the  church,  is  to  add  to  the  words  of  God,  and 
to  fail  in  maintaining  the  principles  and  truths,  or  in 
complying  with  the  institutions  and  ordinances,  delivered 
to  us  in  the  Scriptures,  is  to  take  away  from  the  words  of 
God.  The  Romanists,  for  example,  who  hold  the  doc- 
trine of  transubstantiation,  and  observe  the  sacrifice  of 
the  mass,  add  to  God's  words ;  and  the  Quakers,  who 
maintain  the  co-ordinate  authority  of  immediate  reve- 
lations of  new,  original  truth  with  the  inspired  Oracles, 
and  neglect  the  observance  of  the  sacraments,  both  add 
to  and  take  away  from  them.  And,  in  like  manner, 
those  who  import  instrumental  music  into  the  ordained 
worship  of  the  New  Testament  Church  transcend  the 
warrant  of  Scripture,  and  add  to  the  words  which  Christ 
our  Lord  has  commanded. 

3.  There  are  concrete  instances  recorded  in  the  Scrip- 
tures which  graphically  illustrate  the  same  great  prin- 
ciple. 

(1.)  Gen.  iv:  Cain  and  his  offering.  The  brothers, 
Cain  and  Abel,  had  been  in  childhood  beyond  all  doubt 
instructed  by  their  parents  in  the  knowledge  of  the  first 
promise  of  redemption  to  be  accomplished  by  atone- 
ment.    They  had,  we  have  every  reason  to  believe,  often 


GENERAL  \\u\i  .Ml'.M    fi;om  sruirTiKi:.  L3 

Keen  their  father  offering  animal  sacrifices  in  the  wor- 
ship of  (rod.  To  this  mode  of  worship  fchey  had  been 
accustomed.  Cain,  the  fcype  of  rationalists  and  fabri- 
cators of  rites  and  ceremonies  in  the  house  of  the  Lord, 

consulted  his  own  wisdom  and  taste,  and  ventured  fco 
offer  in  God's  worship  the  fruit  of  the  ground— an  un- 
bloody sacrifice  ;  while  Abel,  conforming  fco  the  appoint- 
ments and  prescribed  usages  in  which  he  had  been 

trained,  expressed  his  faith  and  obedience  by  offering 
a  land).  Abel's  worship  was  accepted  and  Cain's  re- 
jected. "And  in  process  of  time  it  came  fco  pass,  that 
Cain  brought  of  the  fruit  of  the  ground  an  offering  unto 
the  Lord.  And  Abel,  he  also  brought  of  the  firstlings 
of  his  nock  and  of  the  fat  thereof.  And  the  Lord  had 
respect  unto  Abel  and  to  his  offering;  but  unto  Cain 
and  his  offering  he  had  not  respect."  Thus,  in  the 
immediate  family  of  Adam,  we  behold  a  signal  and 
typical  instance  of  self-assertion  and  disregard  of  divine 
prescriptions  in  the  matter  of  worship.  This  was  swiftly 
followed  by  God's  disapprobation,  and  then  came  the 
development  of  sin  in  the  atrocious  crime  of  fratri- 
cide, and  the  banishment  of  the  murderer  from  the 
communion  of  his  family  and  the  presence  of  his 
God. 

Lev.  x.  1-3:  Nadab  and  Abihu.  "And  Nadab 
and  Abihu,  the  sons  of  Aaron,  took  either  of  them  his 
censer,  and  put  fire  therein,  and  put  incense  thereon, 
and  offered  strange  tire  before  the  Lord,  which  he  com- 
manded them  not.1  And  there  went  out  tire  from  the 
Lord,  and  devoured  them,  and  they  died  before  the 
Lord.  Then  Moses  said  unto  Aaron,  This  is  it  that  the 
1  That  is.  which  he  <li<l  not  command  them. 


14  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

Lord  spake,  saying,  I  will  be  sanctified  in  them  that 
come  nigh  me,  and  before  all  the  people  I  will  be  glori- 
fied. And  Aaron  held  his  peace."  These  young  men, 
as  the  sons  of  Israel's  high  priest,  were  legitimately 
employed  in  discharging  the  appointed  functions  of  the 
sacerdotal  office.  But  they  presumed  to  add  to  God's 
commandments.  Exercising  their  own  will  in  regard 
to  the  mode  of  his  worship,  they  did  that  which  he  did 
not  command  them,  and  they  were  instantly  killed  for 
their  wicked  temerity. 

(3.)  Num.  xvi. :  Korah,  Dathan  and  Abiram.  God 
had  consecrated  those  descendants  of  Levi  who  sprang 
from  Aaron  to  the  priesthood,  while  the  remaining  de- 
scendants of  Levi  were  set  apart  to  other  offices  per- 
taining to  the  service  of  the  tabernacle.  Korah  was 
a  Levite,  but  not  a  son  of  Aaron.  Dathan  and  Abiram 
were  not  even  Levites,  but  appear  to  have  descended 
from  Reuben.  When,  therefore,  these  men,  asserting 
the  claim  that  the  whole  congregation  were  entitled  to 
rank  Avith  Moses  and  Aaron,  ventured  to  assume  to 
themselves  functions  which  God  had  restricted  to  a 
certain  class,  they  were  overtaken  by  the  swift  indig- 
nation of  Jehovah,  and  perished  in  an  awful  manner. 
"  The  ground  clave  asunder  that  was  under  them  ;  and 
the  earth  opened  her  mouth,  and  swallowed  them  up, 
and  their  houses,  and  all  the  men  that  appertained  unto 
Korah,  and  all  their  goods.  They,  and  all  that  apper- 
tained unto  them,  went  down  alive  into  the  pit,  and  the 
earth  closed  upon  them  :  and  they  perished  from  among 
the  congregation." 

(4.)  Num.  xx. :  Moses  smiting  the  rock  at  Kadesh. 
When,  on  a  previous  occasion,  the  Israelites  were  suf- 


GENEKA1.  AKcr.Ml.NT  PRO*  BCRIPTUBE.  16 

Caring  from  thirst,  Gk>d  commanded  Moses  to  smite  the 
rock  at  Horeb.  This  he  did,  and  water  gushed  forth 
abundantly.  The  apostle  Paul  tells  us  that  that  rock 
typified  Christ.  The  typical  teaching  furnished  by 
Moses,  then,  was  that  from  the  one  death  of  Christ 
under  the  smiting  of  the  law  the  grace  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  should  proceed  to  satisfy  the  thirst  of  the  soul. 
Christ  was  to  be  smitten  unto  death  only  once.  Now 
again,  at  Kadesh,  the  Israelites  suiter  for  want  of  water. 
God  commands  Moses  to  speak  unto  the  rock.  To  this 
explicit  command  lie  rashly  ventured  to  add.  He  spoke 
to  the  people,  instead  of  the  rock,  and  he  smote  the 
rock  and  smote  it  twice.  He  used  his  own  judgment, 
asserted  his  own  will,  and  taught  the  people  falsely. 
For  this  sin  he  and  Aaron,  who  concurred  with  him  in 

Dunission,  were  excluded  from  entrance  into  the 
pr<  nnised  land.  "  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  say- 
ing, Take  the  rod,  and  gather  thou  the  assembly  to- 
gether, thou  and  Aaron  thy  brother,  and  speak  ye  to 
the  rock  before  their  eyes;  and  it  shall  give  forth  his 
water,  and  thou  shalt  bring  forth  to  them  water  out  of 
the  rock :  so  thou  shalt  give  the  congregation  and  their 

-  drink.  And  Moses  took  the  rod  from  before  the 
Lord,  as  he  commanded  him.  And  Moses  and  Aaron 
gathered  the  congregation  together  before  the  rock,  and 

id  unto  them,  Hear  now.  ye  rebels;  must  we  fetch 
you  water  out  of  this  rock?  And  Moses  lifted  up  his 
hand,  and  with  his  rod  he  smote  the  rock  twice :  and 
the  water  came  out  abundantly,  and  the  congregation 
drank,  and  their  beasts  also.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto 
Mos4  -  and  Aaron.  Because  ye  believed  me  not,  to  sanc- 
tify me  in  the  eyes  of  the  children  of  Israel,  therefore 


16  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

ye  shall  not  bring  this  congregation  into  the  land  which 
I  have  given  them." 

We  have  here  an  inexpressibly  affecting  instance  of 
the  sin  and  folly  of  adding  human  inventions  to  the 
ordinances  of  God's  appointment,  of  the  dreadful  re- 
sults that  may  follow  from  what  men  may  conceive  slight 
departures  from  obedience  to  the  commands  of  God. 
Not  to  speak  of  Aaron,  the  accomplished  orator,  the 
venerable  saint,  the  first  anointed  high  priest  of  his 
people,  this  incomparable  man,  Moses,  in  whom  were 
blended  all  natural  gifts  and  supernatural  graces,  the 
deliverer,  the  legislator,  the  historian,  the  poet,  the 
judge  and  the  commander  of  Israel,  after  having 
brought  them  out  of  Egypt,  conducted  them  through 
the  parted  waters  of  the  Ked  Sea,  mediated  between 
them  and  God  amidst  the  terrors  of  Sinai,  led  them 
through  the  horrors  of  the  waste  and  howling  desert, — 
this  glorious  man,  now  in  sight  of  the  Jordan,  which 
like  a  thread  separated  them  from  the  long-sought, 
long-coveted  goal  of  their  hearts,  is  doomed,  for  one 
addition  to  God's  command,  which  no  doubt  seemed  to 
him  but  a  slight  deviation  from  his  instructions,  to  die 
short  of  the  promised  land. 

(5.)  1  Sam.  xiii. :  Saul  offering  a  burnt-offering  at 
Gilgal.  The  king  had  no  command  to  officiate  as 
priest.  Saul  added  to  God's  command  and  performed 
a  function  for  which  he  had  no  authority.  The  circum- 
stances seemed  to  him  to  justify  the  act.  But  he  gained 
the  divine  disapprobation  and  lost  his  kingdom  for  the 
blunder.  "As  for  Saul,  he  was  yet  in  Gilgal,  and  all 
the  people  followed  him  trembling.  And  he  tarried 
seven  days,  according  to  the  set  time  that  Samuel  had 


GENERAL  ARGUMENT  PROM  B0RIPT1  BE.  17 

appointed:  but  Samuel  came  not  to  Gilgal;  and  the 

people  weir  scattered  from  him.  And  Saul  said,  Bring 
hither  a  burnt-offering  to  me,  and  peace-offerings.  And 
he  offered  the  burnt-offering.     And  it  came  to  pass, 

that  as  soon  as  he  had  made  an  end  of  offering  the 
burnt-offering,  behold,  Samuel  came;  and  Saul  went 
out  to  meet  him  that  he  might  salute  him.     And  Samuel 

said,  What  hast  thou  done?  And  Saul  said,  Because 
1  saw  that  the  people  were  scattered  from  me,  and  that 
thou  earnest  not  within  the  days  appointed,  and  that 
the  Philistines  gathered  themselves  together  at  Mich- 
mash  ;  therefore  said  I,  The  Philistines  will  come  down 
now  upon  me  to  Gilgal,  and  I  have  not  made  supplica- 
tion unto  the  Lord:  I  forced  myself  therefore,  and 
offered  a  burnt-offering.  And  Samuel  said  to  Saul, 
Thou  hast  done  foolishly :  thou  hast  not  kept  the  com- 
mandment of  the  Lord  thy  God  which  he  commanded 
thee :  for  now  would  the  Lord  have  established  thy 
kingdom  upon  Israel  forever.  But  now  thy  kingdom 
shall  not  continue :  the  Lord  hath  sought  him  a  man 
after  his  own  heart,  and  the  Lord  hath  commanded 
him  to  be  captain  over  his  people,  because  thou  hast 
not  kept  that  which  the  Lord  commanded  thee." 

(6.)  1  Chron.  xiii.  7,  8 ;  xv.  11-15  :  Uzza  and  the  ark, 
and  David's  subsequent  obedience.  The  Levites,  or, 
more  particularly,  the  Kohathites,  were  expressly  com- 
manded to  bear  the  ark.  The  manner  of  hearing  it 
was  also  commanded.  Rings  were  appended,  through 
which  staves  were  run.  These  poles,  covered  with 
gold,  were  to  be  supported  on  the  shoulders  of  the 
bearers.  They  were  forbidden  to  touch  the  ark  upon 
pain  of  death.     "After  that,  the  sons  of  Kohath   shall 


18  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  LN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

come  to  bear  it:  but  they  shall  not  touch  any  holy 
thing,  lest  they  die."  Such  was  God's  command.  In 
transporting  it  from  the  house  of  Abinadab,  David  in- 
fringed the  divine  command  by  directing  the  ark  to  be 
borne  on  a  cart  drawn  by  oxen.  Then  when  the  ani- 
mals stumbled,  Uzza,  with  the  intention  of  saving  the 
ark  from  falling,  touched  it  with  his  hand.  He  was 
instantly  killed  for  his  pious  disobedience.  "  And  they 
carried  the  ark  of  God  in  a  new  cart  out  of  the  house 
of  Abinadab :  and  Uzza  and  Ahio  drave  the  cart.  And 
David  and  all  Israel  played  before  God  with  all  their 
might,  and  with  singing,  and  with  harps,  and  with 
psalteries,  and  with  timbrels,  and  with  cymbals,  and 
with  trumpets.  And  when  they  came  unto  the  thresh- 
ing-floor of  Chidon,  Uzza  put  forth  his  hand  to  hold 
the  ark ;  for  the  oxen  stumbled.  And  the  anger  of  the 
Lord  was  kindled  against  Uzza,  and  he  smote  him,  be- 
cause he  put  his  hand  to  the  ark :  and  there  he  died 
before  God."  The  offence  was  the  more  inexcusable, 
because  the  staves  were  never  detached  from  the  ark, 
and  it  is  not  at  all  likely  that  the  Philistines,  who  had 
been  subjected  to  so  severe  a  treatment  while  they  had 
it  in  their  possession,  had  ventured  to  steal  them.  And 
it  deserves  consideration  that  those  heathen  had  not 
been  killed  for  handling  the  ark,  while  for  doing  the 
same  thing  God's  people,  who  should  have  known  bet- 
ter, were  taught  an  awful  lesson. 

The  magnificent  demonstration  suffered  a  disastrous 
arrest,  and  the  king  of  Israel,  sobered  by  the  warning 
he  had  received,  returned  home  to  do  what  he  ought  to 
have  done  before — to  study  the  law  of  God.  Having 
accomplished  this  neglected  office,  he  makes  a  second 


GENERAL  ARGUMENT  PROM  BORLPTUBE.  1(.) 

attempt  to  remove  the  sacred  symbol  of  God's  covenant 
to  Jerusalem,  but  in  a  different  fashion  from  the  former. 
Let  us  hear  the  record.  "And  David  called  for  Zadok 
and  Abiathar  the  priests,  and  for  the  Levites,  for  l/iiel, 
Asaiah,  and  .Tod.  Shemaiah,  and  Eliel  and  Amminadab, 
and  said  unto  them,  Ye  arc  the  chief  of  the  fathers  of 
the  Levitts:  sanctify  yourselves,  both  ye  and  your 
brethren,  that  ye  may  bring  up  the  ark  of  the  Lord  God 
of  Israel  unto  the  place  that  I  have  prepared  for  it. 
For  because  ye  did  it  not  at  the  first,  the  Lord  our  God 
made  a  breach  upon  us,  for  that  we  sought  him  not 
after  the  due  order.  So  the  priests  and  the  Levites 
sanctified  themselves  to  bring  up  the  ark  of  the  Lord 
God  of  Israel.  And  the  children  of  the  Levites  bare 
the  ark  upon  their  shoulders  with  the  staves  thereon, 
as  Moses  commanded  according  to  the  word  of  the 
Lord."  It  merits  notice  that  when  the  ark  was  to  be 
removed  and  instated  in  its  place  in  the  temple  which 
was  about  to  be  dedicated,  Solomon  caused  the  "due 
order"  to  be  observed.  "And  all  the  elders  of  Israel 
came;  and  the  Levites  took  up  the  ark.  And  they 
brought  up  the  ark,  and  the  tabernacle  of  the  congre- 
gation, and  all  the  holy  vessels  that  were  in  the  taber- 
nacle, these  did  the  priests  and  the  Levites  bring  up. 
.  .  .  And  the  priests  brought  in  the  ark  of  the  cove- 
nant of  the  Lord  unto  his  place."  !  The  history  of  this 
matter  enforces  the  impressive  lesson  that  we  are  not 
at  liberty  to  use  our  own  judgment  and  to  act  without 
a  divine  warrant  in  regard  to  things  of  God's  appoint- 
ment. 

1  2  Chron.  v.  4,  ",.  7. 


20  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

(7.)  2  Chron.  xxvi.  16-21 :  King  Uzziah  officiating  as 
a  priest.  God  had  given  no  warrant  to  a  king  to  act 
as  priest,  and  Uzziah  arrogantly  undertook,  without 
such  warrant,  to  discharge  sacerdotal  functions.  The 
consequences  of  his  impiety  are  vividly  depicted  in  the 
following  record:  "But  when  he  was  strong,  his  heart 
was  lifted  up  to  his  destruction :  for  he  transgressed 
against  the  Lord  his  God,  and  went  into  the  temple  of 
the  Lord  to  burn  incense  upon  the  altar  of  ineense. 
And  Azariah  the  priest  went  in  after  him,  and  with  him 
fourscore  priests  of  the  Lord,  that  were  valiant  men : 
and  they  withstood  Uzziah  the  king,  and  said  unto  him, 
It  appertaineth  not  unto  thee,  Uzziah,  to  burn  incense 
unto  the  Lord,  but  to  the  priests,  the  sons  of  Aaron, 
that  are  consecrated  to  burn  incense:  go  out  of  the 
sanctuary ;  for  thou  hast  trespassed  ;  neither  shall  it  be 
for  thine  honor  from  the  Lord  God.  Then  Uzziah  was 
wroth,  and  had  a  censer  in  his  hand  to  burn  incense  : 
and  while  he  was  wroth  with  the  priests,  the  leprosy 
even  rose  up  in  his  forehead  before  the  priests  in  the 
house  of  the  Lord,  from  beside  the  incense  altar.  And 
Azariah  the  chief  priest,  and  all  the  priests,  looked 
upon  him,  and  behold,  he  was  leprous  in  his  forehead, 
and  they  thrust  him  out  from  thence,  yea,  himself 
hasted  also  to  go  out,  because  the  Lord  had  smitten 
him.  And  Uzziah  the  king  was  a  leper  unto  the  day  of 
his  death,  and  dwelt  in  a  several  house,  being  a  leper ; 
for  he  was  cut  off  from  the  house  of  the  Lord." 

(8.)  2  Chron.  xxviii.  3-5 :  King  Ahaz  doubly  offend- 
ing as  to  function  and  place.  He  performed  priestly 
functions  without  a  divine  warrant,  and  performed  them 
in  places  which  God  had  not  appointed.     For  this 


GENERAL  ARGUMENT  FROM  SCRIPTURE,  21 

wicked  self-assertion  be  was  visited  with  divine  ven- 
geance.    " Moreover  he  burnt  incense  in  the  valley  of 

the  son  of  Hinnoni,  and  burnt  his  children  in  the  tire. 
After  the  abominations  of  the  heathen  whom  the  Lord 
had  east  out  before  the  children  of  Esrael.  He  sacri- 
ficed also  and  burnt  incense  in  the  high  places,  and  on 
the  hills,  and  under  every  green  tree.  Wherefore  the 
Lord  his  God  delivered  him  into  the  hands  of  the  IHng 
of  Syria  ;  and  they  smote  him,  and  carried  away  a  great 
multitude  of  them  captives,  and  brought  them  to  Da- 
mascus. And  he  was  also  delivered  into  the  hands 
of  the  king  of  Israel,  who  smote  him  with  a  great 
slaughter." 

(9.)  The  jealousy  of  God  for  the  principle  of  a  divine 
warrant  for  everything  in  his  worship  is  most  conspicu- 
ously illustrated  in  New  Testament  times,  by  the  tre- 
mendous judgments  which  befell  the  Jewish  people  for 
perpetuating,  without  such  a  warrant,  the  typical  ritual 
of  the  temple-service.  Until  the  great  atoning  sacrifice 
was  offered,  they  had  a  positive  warrant  from  God  for 
the  observance  of  that  order.  But  when  that  sacrifice 
had  been  offered,  the  veil  of  the  temple  had  been  rent 
in  twain,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  had  been  copiously 
poured  out  at  the  inauguration  of  a  new  dispensation, 
the  positive  warrant;  for  the  temple-worship  was  with- 
drawn. This  Stephen  insisted  on  before  the  Council, 
and  the  illustrious  witness  for  Christ  was  murdered  for 
his  testimony.  He  charged  that  when  their  fathers  had 
no  warrant  to  worship  sacriricially  except  at  the  temple 
they  had  persisted  in  observing  that  worship  elsewhere; 
and  now  that  God  had  withdrawn  the  warrant  to  wor- 
ship at  the  temple,  they  demanded  the  right  to  worship 
3 


22  INSTEUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

there.  "Ye  do  always,"  said  the  glorious  servant  of 
Jesus,  "  resist  the  Holy  Ghost."  For  this  sin,  by  which 
they  endorsed  their  rejection  of  their  Messiah  and  Sa- 
viour, their  church-state  and  national  polity  were  de- 
molished, and  they,  after  the  experience  of  an  unparal- 
leled tribulation,  were  scattered  to  the  four  winds  of 
heaven.  Have  we  not  the  evidence  before  us  at  this  day  ? 
The  mighty  principle  has  thus  been  established,  by 
an  appeal  to  the  didactic  statements  of  God's  word,  and 
to  special  instances  recorded  in  scriptural  history,  that 
a  divine  warrant  is  required  for  everything  in  the  faith 
and  practice  of  the  Church,  that  whatsoever  is  not  in 
the  Scriptures  commanded,  either  explicitly  or  by  good 
and  necessary  consequence,  is  forbidden.  The  special 
application  of  this  principle  to  the  worship  of  God,  as 
illustrated  in  the  concrete  examples  which  have  been 
furnished,  cannot  escape  the  least  attentive  observation. 
God  is  seen  manifesting  a  most  vehement  jealousy  in 
protecting  the  purity  of  his  worship.  Any  attempt  to 
assert  the  judgment,  the  will,  the  taste  of  man  apart 
from  the  express  warrant  of  his  Word,  and  to  introduce 
into  his  worship  human  inventions,  devices  and  me- 
thods, was  overtaken  by  immediate  retribution  and  re- 
buked by  the  thunderbolts  of  his  wrath.  Nor  need  we 
wonder  at  this ;  for  the  service  which  the  creature  pro- 
fesses to  render  to  God  reaches  its  highest  and  most 
formal  expression  in  the  worship  which  is  offered  him. 
In  this  act  the  majesty  of  the  Most  High  is  directly 
confronted.  The  worshipper  presents  himself  face  to 
face  with  the  infinite  Sovereign  of  heaven  and  earth, 
and  assumes  to  lay  at  his  feet  the  sincerest  homage  of 
the  heart.     In  the  performance  of  such  an  act  to  violate 


GENERAL  ARGUMENT  FROM  SCRIPTURE.  *J.'> 

divine  appointments  or  transcend  divine  prescription, 
to  affirm  the  reason  of  a  sinful  creature  against  the 
wisdom,  the  will  of  a  sinful  creature  against  the  autho- 
rity, of  God,  is  deliberately  to  flaunt  an  insult  in  his 
face,  and  to  hurl  an  indignity  against  his  throne.  What 
else  could  follow  hut  the  Hash  of  divine  indignation? 
It  is  true  that  in  the  New  Testament  dispensation  the 
same  swift  and  visible  arrest  of  this  sin  is  not  the  ordi- 
nary rule.  But  the  patience  and  forbearance  of  God 
can  constitute  no  justification  of  its  commission.  Its 
punishment,  if  it  be  not  repented  of,  is  only  deferred. 
"  Because  sentence  against  an  evil  work  is  not  executed 
speedily,  therefore  the  heart  of  the  sons  of  men  is  fully 
set  in  them  to  do  evil;"  while  the  delayed  justice  of 
God  is  gathering  to  itself  indignation  to  burst  forth  like 
an  overwhelming  tempest  in  the  dreadful  day  of  wrath. 
The  principle  that  has  been  emphasized  is  in  direct 
opposition  to  that  maintained  by  Komanists  and  Pre- 
latists,  and  I  regret  to  say  by  lax  Presbyterians,  that 
what  is  not  forbidden  in  the  Scriptures  is  permitted. 
The  Church  of  England,  in  her  twentieth  article,  con- 
cedes to  the  church  "a  power  to  decree  rites  and  cere- 
monies," with  this  limitation  alone  upon  its  exercise, 
"that  it  is  not  lawful  for  the  church  to  ordain  anything 
that  is  contrary  to  God's  written  word."1     The  princi- 

'  Some  curious  and  remarkable  statements  have  been  made  with  re- 
ference to  this  article.  When,  in  1808,  the  question  of  the  introduc- 
tion of  instrumental  music  into  public  worship  was  before  the  Presby- 
tery of  Glasgow,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Begg,  father  of  the  late  Dr.  James  I  '•■ 
published  a  treatise  on  the  "Use  of  Organs, "  in  which  the  following 
statement  is  attributed  to  the  Rev.  Alexander  Eislop:  "The  Church 
land  has  admitted  into  its  articles  this  principle,  tli.it  it  belongs 
to  'the  church'  of  her  own  authority,  to  'decree  rites  and  ceremonies.' 


24  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

pie  of  the  discretionary  power  of  the  church  in  regard 
to  things  not  commanded  by  Christ  in  his  Word,  was 
the  chief  fountain  from  which  flowed  the  gradually  in- 
creasing tide  of  corruptions  that  swept  the  Latin  church 
into  apostasy  from  the  gospel  of  God's  grace.  And  as 
surely  as  causes  produce  their  appropriate  effects,  and 
history  repeats  itself  in  obedience  to  that  law,  any  Pro- 
testant church  which  embodies  that  principle  in  its 
creed  is  destined,  sooner  or  later,  to  experience  a  simi- 
lar fate.  The  same,  too,  may  be  affirmed  of  a  church 
which  formally  rejects  it  and  practically  conforms  to  it. 
The  reason  is  plain.  The  only  bridle  that  checks  the 
degenerating  tendency  of  the  church — a  tendency  man- 
ifested in  all  ages — is  the  Word  of  God :  for  the  Spirit 
of  grace  Himself  ordinarily  operates  only  in  connec- 
tion with  that  Word.  If  this  restraint  be  discarded,  the 
downward  lapse  is  sure.  The  words  of  the  great  theo- 
logian, John  Owen — and  the  British  Isles  have  pro- 
duced no  greater — are  solemn  and  deserve  to  be  seri- 
ously pondered:  "The  principle  that  the  church  hath 
power  to  institute  any  thing  or  ceremony  belonging  to 

(Article  20  )  As  a  matter  of  historical  fact,  this  principle  was  never 
agreed  to  by  the  Convocation  that  adopted  the  Thirty-nine  Articles, 
this  sentence  being  found  neither  in  the  first  printed  edition  of  the 
articles,  nor  in  the  draft  of  them  that  passed  the  Convocation,  and 
which  is  still  in  existence,  with  the  autograph  signatures  of  the  mem- 
bers ;  but  it  is  believed  to  have  been  surreptitiously  inserted  by  the 
hand  of  Queen  Elizabeth  herself,  who  had  much  of  the  over-bearing 
spirit  of  her  father,  Henry  VIII.,  and  who,  as  head  of  the  church, 
which  the  English  constitution  made  her,  was  determined  to  have  a 
pompous  worship  under  her  ecclesiastical  control."  In  support  of  this 
statement,  reference  is  made  to  ' '  authorities  in  Presbyterian  Review, 
July,  1843."  The  Use  of  Organs,  etc.,  by  James  Begg,  D.  D.,  (p.  150). 
See  also  Bannerman's  Oliurch  of  Christ,  Vol.  I.,  p.  339. 


GENERA1  \i;(,!Mi:\  I   FROM  scinnrm-:.  25 

the  worship  of  God,  either  as  to  matter  or  manner,  be- 
yond the  observance  of  such  circnmstancee  as  neces- 
sarily attend  such  ordinances  as  Christ  himself  hath 
instituted,  lies  at  the  bottom  of  all  the  horrible  super- 
stition and  idolatry,  of  all  the  confusion,  blood,  per- 
secution and  wars  that  have  for  so  long  a  season  spread 
themselves  over  the  face  of  the  Christian  world." 

In  view  of  such  considerations  as  these,  confirmed, 
as  they  are,  by  the  facts  of  all  past  history,  it  is  easy 
how  irrelevant  and  baseless  is  the  taunt  flung  by 
high  churchmen,  ritualists  and  latitudinarians  of  every 
stripe  against  the  maintainors  of  the  opposite  principle, 
that  they  are  narrow-minded  bigots  who  take  delight  in 
insisting  upon  trivial  details.  The  truth  is  exactly  the 
other  way.  The  principle  upon  which  this  cheap  ridi- 
cule i*>  cast  is  simple,  broad,  majestic.  It  affirms  only 
the  things  that  (rod  has  commanded,  the  institutions 
and  ordinances  that  he  has  prescribed,  and  besides  this, 
discharges  only  a  negative  office  which  sweeps  away 
every  trifling  invention  of  man's  meretricious  fancy.  It 
is  not  the  supporters  of  this  principle,  but  their  oppo- 
nents, who  delight  in  insisting  upon  crossings,  genu- 
flexions and  bowings  to  the  east,  upon  vestments, 
altars  and  candles,  upon  organs  and  cornets,  and  "the 
dear  antiphonies  that  so  bewitch  their  prelates  and  their 
chapters  with  the  goodly  echo  they  make ;"  in  fine,  upon 
all  that  finical  trumpery  which,  inherited  from  the 
woman  clothed  in  scarlet,  marks  the  trend  backward  to 
the  Rubicon  and  the  seven-hilled  mart  of  souls. 

But  whatever  others  may  think  or  do,  Presbyterians 
cannot  forsake  this  principle  without  the  guilt  of  de- 
fection from  their  own  venerable  standards  and  from 


26  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

the  testimonies  sealed  by  the  blood  of  their  fathers. 
Among  the  principles  that  the  Keformers  extracted 
from  the  rubbish  of  corruption  and  held  up  to  light 
again,  none  were  more  comprehensive,  far-reaching  and 
profoundly  reforming  than  this.  It  struck  at  the  root 
of  every  false  doctrine  and  practice,  and  demanded  the 
restoration  of  the  true.  Germany  has  been  infinitely 
the  worse  because  of  Luther's  failure  to  apply  it  to  the 
full.  Calvin  enforced  it  more  fully.  The  great  French 
Protestant  Church,  with  the  exception  of  retaining  a 
liturgical  relic  of  popery,  gave  it  a  grand  application, 
and  France  suffered  an  irreparable  loss  when  she  dra- 
gooned almost  out  of  existence  the  body  that  maintained 
it.  John  Knox  stamped  it  upon  the  heart  of  the  Scottish 
Church,  and  it  constituted  the  glory  of  the  English 
Puritans.  Alas !  that  it  is  passing  into  decadence  in  the 
Presbyterian  churches  of  England,  Scotland  and  Amer- 
ica. What  remains  but  that  those  who  still  see  it,  and 
cling  to  it  as  to  something  dearer  than  life  itself,  should 
continue  to  utter,  however  feebly,  however  inopera- 
tively,  their  unchanging  testimony  to  its  truth  ?  It  is 
the  acropolis  of  the  church's  liberties,  the  palladium 
of  her  purity.  That  gone,  nothing  will  be  left  to  hope, 
but  to  strain  its  gaze  towards  the  dawn  of  the  millen- 
nial day.  Then — we  are  entitled  to  expect — a  more 
thorough-going  and  glorious  reformation  will  be  effected 
than  any  that  has  blessed  the  church  and  the  world 
since  the  magnificent  propagation  of  Christianity  by 
the  labors  of  the  inspired  apostles  themselves. 


II. 

AjEtQUMENT   FROM  THE   OLD   TESTAMENT. 

In  the  Jewish  dispensation  God  was  pleased  U)  pro- 
ceed in  accordance  with  the  great  principle  which  has 
been  signalized,  in  regard  to  the  introduction  of  instru- 
mental music  into  the  public  worship  of  his  people. 
He  kept  the  ordering  of  this  part  of  his  formal  and  in- 
stituted worship  in  his  own  hands.  There  is  positive 
proof  that  it  was  never  made  an  element  of  that  worship 
except  by  his  express  command.  Without  his  warrant 
it  was  excluded;  only  with  it  was  it  employed. 

1.  Let  us  notice  the  operation  of  this  principle  with 
reference  to  the  tabernacle-worship. 

Moses  received  the  mode  of  constructing  the  taber- 
nacle and  the  order  of  its  worship  by  divine  revelation. 
"See,  saith  he,  that  thou  make  all  things  according  to 
the  pattern  showed  to  thee  in  the  mount."  It  will  be 
admitted  that  the  instructions  thus  divinely  given  de- 
scended to  the  most  minute  details — the  sort  of  fabrics 
and  skins  to  be  used,  and  their  diverse  colors,  the  pins, 
the  ouches  and  the  taches,  the  ablutions,  the  vestments 
and  the  actions  of  the  officiating  priests  and  Levitts. 
the  ingredients  of  the  holy  ointment  and  the  incense, 
the  parts,  the  arrangements,  the  instruments  of  wor- 
ship,— to  everything  connected  with  the  tabernacle 
these  specific  directions  referred.  Of  course,  if  God 
had  intended  instrumental  music  to  be  employed,  it 


28  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

would  have  been  included  in  these  particular  directions ; 
the  instruments  would  have  been  specified  for  its  per- 
formance, and  regulations  enjoined  for  its  use. 

What,  now,  are  the  facts'?  No  directions  are  given 
respecting  instruments  of  music.  Two  instruments  of 
sound  are  provided  for,  but  they  were  of  such  a  char- 
acter as  to  make  it  impracticable  to  use  them  ordinarily 
as  accompaniments  of  the  voice  in  singing.  The  record 
is:  "And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  Make 
thee  two  trumpets  of  silver  ;  of  a  whole  piece  shalt  thou 
make  them :  that  thou  mayest  use  them  for  the  calling 
of  the  assembly,  and  for  the  journeying  of  the  camps." 
"  And  if  ye  go  to  war  in  your  land  against  the  enemy 
that  oppresseth  you,  thou  shalt  blow  an  alarm  with  the 
trumpets ;  and  ye  shall  be  remembered  before  the  Lord 
your  God,  and  ye  shall  be  saved  from  your  enemies. 
Also  in  the  days  of  your  gladness,  and  in  your  solemn 
days,  and  in  the  beginnings  of  your  months,  ye  shall 
blow  with  the  trumpets  over  your  burnt-offerings,  and 
over  the  sacrifices  of  }^our  peace-offerings ;  that  they 
may  be  to  you  for  a  memorial  before  your  God :  I  am 
the  Lord  your  God."  The  blowing  of  these  trumpets 
as  a  signal  for  marching,  or  for  going  to  war,  had  cer- 
tainly nothing  to  do  with  worship,  neither  did  the  call 
of  the  congregation  to  assemble  belong  to  the  perform- 
ance of  worship,  any  more  than  a  church  bell  now,  the 
ringing  of  which  ceases  when  the  services  begin.  There 
is  nothing  to  show  that  the  blowing  of  the  trumpets,  on 
festival  days  and  at  the  beginning  of  months,  over  the 
offerings  was  accompanied  by  singing  on  the  part  of 
priests  and  Levites.  There  is  no  mention  of  that  fact, 
and  Jewish  tradition  opposes  the  supposition.     More- 


LBGUMENT  riio.M  TEE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  29 

over,  it  is  almost  certain  that  the  blowing  of  trumpets 
on  such  occasions  was  a  representative  act  performed 
by  the  priests,  ami  that  consequently  it  was  not  accom- 
panied by  the  sringmg  of  tlic  congregation.  It  is  true 
that  there  is  one  recorded  exception  (2  Chron.  \.  12, 
13)  which  occurred,  however,  when  the  tabernacle  had 
given  way  to  the  temple .  At  the  dedication  of  the  lat- 
ter edifice,  the  priests  blew  the  trumpets  at  the  same 
time  that  the  Levites  sang  and  played  upon  instruments 
of  music,  so  as  "to  make  one  sound;"  but  it  is  evident 
that  on  that  great  occasion  of  rejoicing,  what  was  aimed 
at  was  not  musical  harmony,  but  a  powerful  crash  of 
jubilant  sound.  We  are  shut  up  to  the  conclusion  that 
there  was  nothing  in  the  tabernacle-worship,  as  ordered 
by  Moses,  which  could  be  justly  characterized  as  instru- 
mental music. 

This  absence  of  instrumental  music  from  the  services 
of  the  tabernacle  continued  not  only  during  the  wander- 
f  the  Israelites  in  the  desert,  but  after  their  en- 
trance into  the  promised  land,  throughout  the  protracted 
period  of  the  Judges,  the  reign  of  Saul,  and  a  pari  of 
David's.  This  is  a  noteworthy  fact.  Although  David 
was  a  lover  of  instrumental  music,  and  himself  a  per- 
former upon  the  liar]),  it  was  not  until  some  time  after 
his  reign  had  begun  that  this  order  of  things  was  changed, 
and.  as  we  shall  see,  changed  by  divine  command.  Let 
us  hear  the  scriptural  record  (1  Chron.  xxiii.  1  (>):  "So 
when  David  was  old  and  full  of  days,  he  made  Solomon 
lii>  -on  king  over  Israel.  And  he  gathered  together  all 
the  princes  of  Israel,  with  the  priests  and  the  Levites. 

Now    the    Levites    Were    numbered    |,y   the    age  of  thirty 

yean  and  upward:  and  their  number  by  their  polls, 


30  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

man  by  man,  was  thirty  and  eight  thousand ;  of  which 
twenty  and  four  thousand  were  to  set  forward  the  work 
of  the  house  of  the  Lord ;  and  six  thousand  were  officers 
and  judges :  moreover  four  thousand  were  porters ;  and 
four  thousand  praised  the  Lord  with  the  instruments 
which  I  made,  said  David,  to  praise  therewith.  And 
David  divided  them  into  courses  among  the  sons  of 
Levi,  namely,  Gershon,  Kohath  and  Merari."  Now, 
how  did  David  come  to  make  this  alteration  in  the 
Mosaic  order  which  had  been  established  by  divine  re- 
velation ?  For  the  answer  let  us  again  consult  the  sa- 
cred record  (1  Chron.  xxviii.  11-13,  19):  "Then  David 
gave  to  Solomon  his  son  the  pattern  of  the  porch, 
and  of  the  houses  thereof,  and  of  the  treasuries  thereof, 
and  of  the  inner  parlors  thereof,  and  of  the  place  of  the 
mercy-seat,  and  the  pattern  of  all  that  he  had  by  the 
Spirit,  of  the  courts  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  of 
all  the  chambers  round  about,  of  the  treasuries  of  the 
house  of  God,  and  of  the  treasuries  of  the  dedicated 
things :  also  for  the  courses  of  the  priests  and  the  Le- 
vites,  and  for  all  the  work  of  the  service  of  the  house  of 
the  Lord,  and  for  all  the  vessels  of  service  in  the  house  of 
the  Lord.  .  .  .  All  this,  said  David,  the  Lord  made  me 
understand  in  writing  by  his  hand  upon  me,  and  all  the 
works  of  this  pattern."  2  Chron.  xxix.  25,  26 :  "And 
he  [Solomon]  set  the  Levites  in  the  house  of  the  Lord 
with  cymbals,  with  psalteries,  and  with  harps,  accord- 
ing to  the  commandment  of  David,  and  of  Gad  the 
king's  seer,  and  of  Nathan  the  prophet :  for  so  was  the 
commandment  of  the  Lord  by  his  prophets." 

In  the  light  of  these  statements  of  God's  Word  sev- 
eral things  are  made  evident,  which  challenge  our  se- 


AKC.UMENT  FROM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  31 

rious  attention.  First,  instrumental  music  never  was 
divinely  warranted  as  an  element  in  the  tabernacle- 
worship  until  David  received  inspired  instructions  to 
introduce  it,  as  preparatory  to  the  transition  which  was 
about  to  be  effected  to  the  more  elaborate  ritual  of  the 
temple.  Secondly,  when  the  temple  was  to  be  built 
and  its  order  of  worship  to  be  instituted,  David  re- 
ceived a  divine  revelation  in  regard  to  it,  jnst  as  Moses 
had  concerning  the  tabernacle  with  its  ordinances. 
Thirdly,  this  direct  revelation  to  David  was  enforced 
upon  Solomon,  and  upon  the  priests  and  Levites,  by 
inspired  communications  touching  the  same  subject 
from  the  prophets  Gad  and  Nathan.  Fourthly,  instru- 
mental music  would  not  have  been  constituted  an  ele- 
ment in  the  temple-worship,  had  not  God  expressly 
authorized  it  by  his  command.  The  public  worship 
of  the  tabernacle,  up  to  the  time  when  it  was  to  be 
merged  into  the  temple,  had  been  a  stranger  to  it,  and 
so  great  an  innovation  could  have  been  accomplished 
only  by  divine  authority.  God's  positive  enactment 
grounded  the  propriety  of  the  change. 

Is  it  not  clear  that  the  great  principle,  that  whatso- 
ever is  not  commanded  by  God,  either  expressly  or  im- 
pliedly, in  relation  to  the  public  worship  of  his  house, 
is  forbidden,  meets  here  a  conspicuous  illustration? 
The  bearing  of  all  this  upon  the  Christian  church  is  as 
striking  as  it  is  obvious.  If,  under  a  dispensation  domi- 
nantlv  characterized  by  external  appointments,  instru- 
mental music  could  not  be  introduced  into  the  worship 
of  God's  sanctuary,  except  in  consequence  of  a  warrant 
furnished  by  him,  how  can  a  church,  existing  under  the 
Car  simpler  and  more  spiritual  dispensation  of  the  gos- 


32  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

pel,  venture,  without  such  a  warrant,  to  incorporate  it 
into  its  public  services  ?  and  that  no  such  warrant  can 
be  pleaded  will  be  made  apparent  as  the  argument  ex- 
pands. 

2.  Against  the  conclusiveness  of  this  argument  it  is 
objected,  that  the  Israelites  were  accustomed  to  use 
instrumental  music  at  their  option,  and  that  especially 
was  this  the  case  on  occasions  of  public  rejoicing,  when 
thanksgivings  were,  by  masses  of  the  people,  rendered 
to  God  for  signal  benefits  conferred  by  his  delivering 
providence.  So  far  as  the  allegation  concerns  the  em- 
ployment of  that  kind  of  music  in  private  or  social  life, 
it  is  irrelevant  to  the  scope  of  an  argument  which  has 
reference  explicitly  and  solely  to  its  use  in  the  public 
worship  of  God's  house.  This  will  rule  out  many  of 
the  instances  which  are  cited  to  prove  the  untenable- 
ness  of  the  principle  contended  for  in  this  discus- 
sion. 

There  remains,  however,  another  class  of  cases  to 
which  attention  may  be  fairly  directed,  cases  in  which 
public  worship  appeared  to  be  offered.  Into  this  class 
fall  the  instances  of  Miriam's  playing  upon  the  timbrel 
at  the  Red  Sea,  the  welcome  of  Saul  and  David  by  the 
women  with  singing,  dancing  and  instrumental  music, 
the  like  instance  of  Jephthah's  daughter,  the  accom- 
panying of  the  ark  by  David  and  Israel  with  bands  of 
music,  and  the  minstrelsy  of  the  prophets  to  whom 
Saul  joined  himself.  In  reply  to  the  objection  based 
upon  these  instances,  the  general  ground  may  be  taken 
that  they  are  examples  not  of  church- worship,  but  of 
public  rejoicing  on  the  part  of  the  nation  or  of  com- 
munities, with  the  exception  of  the  prophets'  minstrelsy, 


AIK.IMIM    FROM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  33 

which  will  be  separately  considered.  Some  special  re- 
marks are,  however,  pertinent  in  regard  to  them. 

In  the  first  place,  it  will  be  noticed  from  the  account 
of  the  triumphant  rejoicing  on  the  shore  of  the  Red 
Sea  that  the  men  sang  only  :  "  Then  sang  Moses  and  the 
children  of  Israel  this  song  nnto  the  Lord,  and  spake, 
saving,"  etc.  What  can  be  gathered  from  this  simple 
singing  of  the  males  of  Israel,  in  praise  of  God  for  their 
great  deliverance,  in  favor  of  instrumental  music  in 
worship,  it  is  rather  difficult  to  see. 

In  the  second  place,  it  was  Miriam  and  the  women 
who  used  instruments  of  music  on  the  occasion:  "And 
Miriam  the  prophetess,  the  sister  of  Aaron,  took  a  tim- 
brel in  her  hand  ;  and  all  the  women  went  after  her 
with  timbrels  and  with  dances."  The  argument  of  the 
objector  proves  too  much.  If  from  this  instance  the 
legitimacy  of  employing  instrumental  music  in  the  pub- 
He  worship  of  the  Jewish  Church  is  to  be  inferred,  so 
may  the  legitimacy  of  its  use  by  women  in  that  wor- 
ship. But  the  history  of  the  appointments  of  that 
worship  furnishes  no  evidence  of  the  tenableness  of  the 
latter  inference.  The  contrary  is  proved.  Women 
were  excluded  from  any  prominent,  at  least  any  official, 
function  in  the  services  of  God's  house  in  the  Mosaic  dis- 
pensation. !  It  was  the  males  of  Israel  who  were  com- 
manded to  repair  to  Jerusalem  on  those  festival  occa- 
sions when  bursts  of  instrumental  music  were  united 
with  the  singing  of  praise  in  the  temple-worship.  In- 
deed, so  far  from  the  women  taking  an  active  part  in 

1  The  daughters  of  Heman,  mentioned  1  Chron.  xxv.  5,  were  not 
singers  and  performers  on  instruments  in  the  public  worship,  for  they 
are  not  included  in  the  enumeration  of  the  courses  which  follows. 

4 


34  INSTEUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

that  worship,  it  would  seem  to  have  been  limited,  as  to 
its  outward  expression  in  sounds,  to  the  priests  and 
Levites,  who,  as  the  divinely  appointed  official  repre- 
sentatives of  the  congregation,  sang  and  played  on 
instruments  of  music.  The  argument  might  do  for  a 
modern  advocate  of  woman's  rights,  but  it  will  hardly 
answer  for  the  Jewish  dispensation.  It  is  as  barren  of 
results  as  was  Miriam  herself  of  issue. 

In  the  third  place,  it  again  proves  too  much,  if  the 
word  rendered  "dances"  is  correctly  translated.  It 
would  prove  that  religious  dancing  was  an  element  in 
the  prescribed  worship  of  God's  people.  The  conse- 
quence refutes  the  argument. 

But  to  return  to  the  general  position,  that  the  in- 
stances mentioned  in  the  objection  were  those  not  of 
ecclesiastical  worship,  but  of  national  rejoicing.  Against 
this  general  view  it  is  urged,  in  reply,  that  an  unwar- 
rantable distinction  is  made  between  the  Jewish  church 
and  the  Jewish  nation.  This  raises  the  question  whether 
such  a  distinction  is  valid.  Were  state  and  church 
identical  ?  Did  the  members  of  the  state  act  as  mem- 
bers of  the  church  ?  Did  the  members  of  the  church 
act  as  members  of  the  state  ?  It  may  be  admitted  that, 
in  the  main — that  is,  with  certain  exceptions,  such  as  the 
proselytes  of  righteousness,  for  example — the  nation 
and  the  church  were  numerically  coincident.  Ordina- 
rily— that  is,  with  certain  exceptions — the  rite  of  circum- 
cision designated  one  alike  a  member  of  the  state  and 
of  the  church.  But  that  these  two  institutes  were  iden- 
tical ;  that  the  functions  of  the  one  were  the  functions 
of  the  other,  considered  as  organisms,  is  to  my  mind 
not  susceptible  of  proof.     It  would  be  unsuitable  here 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  35 

to  enter  at  Large  into  this  question,  but  it  lies  across  the 
track  of  the  argument  in  hand,  and  a  brief  considera- 
tion of  it,  as  it  is  not  illogically  interjected,  will  not  be 
regarded  as  Impertinent.  The  question  is  acutely  and 
ably  discussed  by  that  great  man,  George  Gillespie,  in 
his  Aaron s  Rod  Blossoming*  I  shall  give  a  mere  out- 
line, the  bare  heads,  of  a  part  of  his  argument  to  pro ve 
that  the  Jewish  state  and  church,  although  in  the  main 
the  same  materially,  that  is,  as  to  personal  constituents, 
were  organically  and  formally  distinct  institutes  ;  and 
I  do  this  the  more  readily  because  Gillespie's  valuable 
work  is  now  rare  and  difficult  of  access.  The)T  are  dis- 
tinct : 

(1.)  In  respect  of  laws.  The  judicial  law  was  given 
to  the  state;  the  ceremonial  law  to  the  church. 

Ci.i  In  respect  of  acts.  The  members  of  the  state 
did  not,  as  such,  worship  God  and  offer  sacrifices  in 
the  temple,  etc.  ;  and  the  members  of  the  church  did 
not,  as  such,  inflict  physical  punishments. 

(3.)  In  respect  of  controversies  to  be  decided.  Some 
concerned  the  Lord's  matters,  and  were  to  be  ecclesias- 
tically settled  ;  some  the  king's  matters,  and  were  to  be 
civilly  decided. 

(4.)  In  respect  of  officers.  The  priest>  and  Levites 
were  church  officers;  magistrates  and  judges  were  state 
officers. 

(5.)  Id  respect  of  continuance.  The  Romans  took 
away  the  Jewish  state  and  civil  government,  but  the 
Jewish  church  and  ecclesiastical  government  remained. 

(6.)  In  respect  of  variation.  The  constitution  and 
government  of  the  Jewish  state  underwent  serious 
changes  under  different  civil  administrations;  but   we 


36  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

cannot  say  that  the  church  was  remodelled  as  often  as 
the  state  was. 

(7.)  In  respect  of  members.  There  were  proselytes, 
the  proselytes  of  righteousness,  who  were  admitted  to 
membership  in  the  church  with  its  privileges,  but  were 
not  entitled  to  the  privileges  of  members  of  the  state. 

(8.)  In  respect  of  government.  In  the  prosecution 
of  this  argument  to  prove  the  distinctness  of  the  Jewish 
church  and  state,  Gillespie  takes  the  ground  that  there 
were  two  Sanhedrims,  one  civil,  the  other  ecclesiasti- 
cal ;  and  he  cites,  as  maintaining  that  view,  Zepperus, 
Junius,  Piscator,  Wolfius,  Gerhard,  Godwin,  Bucerus, 
Walseus,  Pelargus,  Sopingius,  the  Dutch  Annotators, 
Bertramus,  Apollonius,  Strigelius,  the  professors  of 
Groningen,  Keynolds,  Paget,  L'Empereur,  and  Elias, 
cited  by  Buxtorf. 

[This  special  argument  Gillespie  presses  elaborately 
and  acutely  by  more  than  a  dozen  separate  considera- 
tions derived  from  Scripture.  But  as  the  question  has 
been  ably  debated  on  both  sides  by  men  learned  in  Jew- 
ish affairs,  no  positive  opinion  is  here  expressed  as  to 
the  conclusiveness  of  the  proofs  presented  by  the  great 
Scotch  divine.] 

(9.)  There  was  an  ecclesiastical  excommunication 
among  the  Jews  different  from  the  penalties  inflicted 
by  the  criminal  law  of  the  state. 

Such  are  the  ribs  merely  of  a  powerful  argument  in 
favor  of  the  distinction  between  the  Jewish  state  and 
church,  by  one  who  had  the  reputation  of  being  one  of 
the  astutest  debaters  in  the  Westminster  Assembly  of 
Divines.  That  distinguished  scholar,  Dr.  Joseph  Ad- 
dison Alexander,  expresses  the  opinion,  in  his  Primi- 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  37 

tm  Church  Offices,  that  the  Jewish  stale  and  church 
wt'iv  one  organization,  with  two  distinct  classes  of  func- 
tions, one  civil  and  another  ecclesiastical.  But  Gil- 
lespie shows  that  the  numerical  components  of  some  of 
the  courts  were  different;  they  consisted  of  different 
men.  Take  either  view,  however,  and  the  ends  of  this 
argument  are  met,  more  conclusively  upon  Gillespie's, 
it  is  true,  hut  conclusively  upon  both.  What  the  state 
as  such  did,  the  church  as  such  did  not  do,  and  vice 
Vi  rsa.  And  if  this  be  so,  it  follows  that  the  same  thing 
holds  in  regard  to  the  people.  What  they  did  in  a  na- 
tional capacity  they  did  not  necessarily  do  in  an  eccle- 
siastical. When,  then,  Miriam  and  the  women  with 
her,  the  women  who  welcomed  Saul  and  David  return- 
ing home  in  triumph,  the  daughter  of  Jephthali  cele- 
brating her  father's  victory,  and  the  mass  of  people 
who  accompanied  the  ark  in  its  transportation  to  Jeru- 
salem, played  on  instruments  of  music,  they  wTere  com- 
memorating national  events  writh  appropriate  national 
rejoicings.  They  were  not  acting  worship  as  the  church 
or  as  the  members  of  the  church. 

In  regard  to  the  company  of  prophets  whom  Saul 
joined,  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  they  were,  in  part,  the 
poets  and  minstrels  of  the  nation,  and  that  as  the  inci- 
dent occurred  during  the  existence  of  the  tabernacle, 
the  incontestable  proof  which  has  been  already  ex- 
hibited, that  instrumental  music  such  as  that  which  they 
employed  was  not  allowed  in  its  worship,  is  enough  to 
Bweep  all  ground  from  beneath  the  objection  now  con- 
sidered  against  the  operation  of  the  great  principle  of 
limitation  upon  church  worship  for  which  I  have  con- 
tended.    This   holds   good    whether  or  not  the  view 


38  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

which  has  been  presented  as  to  these  prophets  be  cor- 
rect. Their  playing  on  instruments  had  nothing  to  do 
with  the  public,  formally  instituted  worship  of  the  house 
of  the  Lord. 

It  has  thus  been  shown,  by  a  direct  appeal  to  the 
Scriptures,  that  during  all  the  protracted  period  in 
which  the  tabernacle  was  God's  sanctuary  the  great 
principle  was  enforced,  that  only  what  God  commands 
is  permitted,  and  what  he  does  not  command  is  for- 
bidden, in  the  public  worship  of  his  house.  Moses  with 
all  his  wisdom,  the  Judges  with  all  their  intrepidity, 
Saul  with  all  his  waywardness  and  self-will,  David  the 
sweet  Psalmist  of  Israel  with  all  his  skill  in  the  musical 
art,  did  not,  any  of  them,  venture  to  violate  that  prin- 
ciple, and  introduce  into  the  public  services  of  God's 
house  the  devices  of  their  imagination  or  the  inventions 
of  their  taste.  The  lesson  is  certainly  impressive,  com- 
ing, as  it  does,  from  that  distant  age ;  and  it  behooves 
those  who  live  in  a  dispensation  this  side  of  the  cross 
of  Calvary  and  the  day  of  Pentecost  to  show  cause,  be^ 
yond  a  peradventure,  why  they  are  discharged  from  the 
duty  of  obedience  to  the  divine  will  in  this  vitally  im- 
portant matter. 

3.  The  next  step  in  this  argument  is  to  show  that  no 
musical  instruments  were  used  in  the  synagogue-wor- 
ship. 

As  this  is  almost  universally  admitted,  no  extended 
argument  is  needed  to  prove  it.  It  might  have  been 
expected  from  the  jealousy  which  God  had  always  pe- 
culiarly manifested  in  enforcing  the  principle  that  with- 
out an  express  warrant  from  him  nothing  was  to  be 
introduced  into  the  public  worship  of  his  people,  and 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  39 

especially  from  the  facts  already  emphasized  that  no 
instruments  of  music  were  allowed  t<>  be  employed  in 

the  tabernacle,  and  that  they  were  included  ill  the  ser- 
vice at  the  temple  only  in  consequence  of  explicit  divine 
instructions  to  that  effect,  it  might  have  been  expected 
that  instrumental  music  would  not  have  been  incorpo- 
rated into  the  worship  of  the  Jews  on  ordinary  Sabbath 
days  not  embraced  in  the  three  national  festivals. 
This    presumption    is   confirmed    by   the  facts  of  the 

case. 

The  writers  who  have  most  carefully  investigated 
Jewish  antiquities,  and  have  written  learnedly  and  elab- 
orately in  regard  to  the  synagogue,  concur  in  showing 
that  its  worship  was  destitute  of  instrumental  music. 
What  singing  there  was,  and  there  was  not  much  of  it 
in  proportion  to  the  other  elements  of  worship,  was 
plain  and  simple.  In  his  great  work  On  the  Ancient 
Synagogue,  Yitringa  shows1  that  there  wrere  only  two 
instruments  of  sound  used  in  connection  with  the  syna- 
gogue, and  that  these  were  employed,  not  in  worship  or 
along  with  it  as  an  accompaniment,  but  as  publishing 
signals — first,  for  proclaiming  the  new  year;  secondly 
for  announcing  the  beginning  of  the  Sabbath;  thirdly, 
for  publishing  the  sentence  of  excommunication;  and 
fourthly,  for  heralding  fasts.  These  were  their  sole 
uses.  There  were  no  sacrifices  over  which  they  wrere 
to  be  blown,  as  in  the  tabernacle  and  temple.  And 
from  the  nature  of  the  instruments  it  is  plain  that  they 
could  not  have  accompanied  the  voice  in  singing.  They 
were  only  of  two  kinds — trumpets  (tufap),  and  rams' 

1  Be  Sffnag.  Vetere,  Lib.  I.,  Pars  i  ,  Chap.  10.  Lightfoot  on  Matt. 
vi.  2.     Bee  ibo  Josephus,  Ant,  Jud.,  Lib.  iii.,  Chap.  12. 


40  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  LN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

horns  or  cornets  (buccince).  The  former  were  straight, 
the  latter  curved.  Nor  is  it  to  be  supposed  that  the 
cornet,  like  the  modern  instrument  of  that  name,  was 
susceptible  of  modulation,  and  therefore  of  accompany- 
ing vocal  melody.  It  had  but  one  note,  and  was  so  easy 
to  be  blown  that  a  child  could  sound  it.  Further,  they 
were,  for  the  most  part,  used  not  even  'in  connection 
with  the  synagogue  buildings,  but  were  blown  from  the 
roofs  of  houses,  so  as  to  be  heard  at  a  distance.  Enough 
has  been  said  to  prove  that  no  instrumental  music  en- 
tered into  the  services  of  the  Jewish  synagogue.1 

The  elements  of  worship  in  the  Mosaic  dispensation 
were  of  two  kinds : 

(1.)  The  generic  or  essential.  Those  observed  in  the 
synagogue  were  the  reading  and  exposition  of  God's 
Word,  exhortation,  prayers,  accompanied  with  singing, 
if  the  common  recitation  by  the  people  of  parts  of  the 
Psalms  can  be  so  characterized,  and  the  contribution  of 
alms.  "Without  here  raising  the  question  whether  syna- 
gogues had  an  existence  prior  to  the  Babylonian  exile, 
one  would  risk  little  in  taking  the  ground  that,  during  all 
the  time  of  the  church's  development  in  the  past,  God's 
people  had  been  accustomed  to  meet  on  Sabbath  days  for 
engagement  in  these  essential  parts  of  divine  worship. 
The  patriarchal  dispensation  being  left  out  of  account, 
in  which,  however,  every  sentiment  of  piety  and  rever- 
ence, the  original  institution  of  the  seventh  day  as  one 
of  rest,  and  the  acquaintance  of  the  Israelites  with  the 
law  of  the   Sabbath  before  the  promulgation  of  the 

1  The  orthodox  Jews,  even  to  the  present  day,  oppose  its  use  in  the 
synagogue.  The  writer  knew  a  congregation  in  Charleston,  S.  C,  to 
be  rent  in  twain  in  consequence  of  an  attempt  to  introduce  an  organ. 


ARGUMENT  fcROM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  41 

Sim-nth-  law,  render  it  highly  probable  that  such  a  prac- 
tice was  maintained,  a  few  reasons  will  be  intimated  in 
favor  of  its  maintenance  during  the  period  of  the  Jew- 
ish economy : 

First,  The   fourth    commandment    made   the   sacred 

observance  of  every  Sabbath  day  obligatory.     It  is  not 

nahle  to  suppose  that  the  law  contemplated  the 

merely  individual  and  private  keeping  holy  of  the  day. 

Secondly,  The  Israelites,  during  their  sojourn  in  the 
Wilderness,  were  accustomed  to  worship  every  Sabbath 
day  in  mass  at  the  tabernacle.  It  was  accessible  from 
every  part  of  the  encampment  which  was  around  it  on 
every  side.  The  proof  of  this  is  given  in  Lev.  xxiii.  3  : 
"  Six  tlays  shall  work  be  done  :  but  the  seventh  day  is  the 
Sal  »1  >ath  <  )f  rest,  an  holy  convocation."  The  prescriptive 
osage  of  meeting  for  worship  on  every  Sabbath  was 
thus  established  during  their  forty  years'  pilgrimage  in 
the  desert.  In  all  that  time  during  which  they  held 
weekly  assemblies,  let  it  also  be  observed,  they  knew 
nothing  of  instrumental  music.  It  is  altogether  un- 
reasonable to  Suppose  that  this  habit,  ingrained  into 
them  in  the  early  period  of  their  national  existence  and 
consecrated  by  innumerable  sacred  and  splendid  asso- 
ciations, would  have  ceased  to  be  influential  after  their 
wanderings  had  ceased  and  they  had  been  permanently 
located  in  the  land  of  rest.  Such  an  innovation  upon 
their  customs  could  only  have  occurred  in  consequence 
either  of  a  divine  command  enforcing  the  change,  or  of 
a  serious  defection  from  their  religious  principles.  We 
know  that  neither  of  these  causes  operated  to  produce 
the  supposed  revolution  in  their  habits  of  worship. 
Upon  their  settlement  in  Canaan,  they   were  of  course 


42  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

dispersed  in  consequence  of  their  tribal  distribution 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  country  from 
Dan  to  Beersheba,  and,  as  the  tabernacle  was  necessa- 
rily at  any  particular  time  confined  to  one  spot,  it  was 
not  accessible  to  congregations  representing  all  Israel, 
except  upon  the  occasions  of  the  prescribed  national 
festivals.  What,  then,  were  they  doing  on  all  the  other 
Sabbaths  of  the  year  in  their  cities  and  towns,  villages 
and  rural  neighborhoods  ?  It  cannot  be  supposed  that 
on  those  Sabbaths  they  never  met  for  worship.1  This 
consideration  is  mightily  enhanced  by  the  fact  that  only 
the  males  of  Israel  were  enjoined  to  attend  the  great 
annual  festivals.  Were  the  women,  the  mothers  of  Is- 
rael, the  trainers  of  children  and  youth,  left  destitute  of 
all  public  worship  ?  The  supposition  cannot  be  enter- 
tained. Provision  must  have  been  made  for  their  en- 
gagement in  the  stated  public  worship  of  their  God. 

Thirdly,  The  priests  and  Levites,  when  not  occupied 
in  the  discharge  of  their  formal,  official  duties  at  the 
temple,  were  distributed  through  the  land,  and  there  is 
evidence  to  show  that  they  acted  as  teachers  of  schools. 
Is  it  likely  that  ministers  of  religion  would  have  edu- 
cated the  people  in  everything  but  the  divine  law,  or 
that  they  would  have  failed  to  assemble  them  on  Sab- 
bath days  for  the  reception  of  religious  instruction,  or 
that  such  instruction  would  have  been  unattended  by 
worship  ?  It  may  be  said  that  this  amounts  to  no  more 
than  a  presumption.     But  if  so,  it  is  a  powerful  pre- 

1  ' '  Under  every  preceding  dispensation  the  sanctity  of  the  Sabbath 
had  been  a  fundamental  part  of  revealed  religion;  the  synagogue 
worship  goes  back,  possibly,  to  the  captivity  in  Egypt,  certainly  to 
the  captivity  in  Babylon." — Breckinridge's  Subjec.  Theology,  p.  530. 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  43 

sumption,  and  is  strongly  confirmed  by  other  considera- 
tions, such  as  those  that  follow. 

Fourthly,  The  Israelites  were  commanded  to  pro- 
claim the  incoming  of  the  Sabbaths  and  the  new  moons 
by  the  blowing  of  trumpets.  That  these  seasons  were 
observed  with  the  solemn  worship  of  assemblies  is  ren- 
dered almost  certain  by  the  passage  in  2  Kings,  chap- 
ter iv..  in  which  it  is  intimated  that  on  those  occasions 
the  prophets  were  accustomed  to  hold  meetings  for  in- 
struction and  worship.  The  Shunammite,  wrhose  son 
had  been  restored  to  life  by  Elisha,  having  lost  the 
child  by  death,  proposed  to  her  husband  to  provide  her 
with  the  necessaries  for  a  journey  to  the  prophet  at 
Mount  Carmel.  His  reply  was,  "  Wherefore  wait  thou 
go  to  him  to-day?  It  is  neither  new  moon,  nor  Sab- 
bath ?  "  The  answer  cannot  be  understood  except  upon 
the  supposition  here  contended  for — namely,  that  the 
Sabbaths  and  new  moons  were  seasons  of  gathering  for 
instruction  and  worship  ;  and  it  is  certain  that  Carmel 
was  not  Jerusalem,  and  that  weekly  Sabbaths  and  the  be- 
ginnings of  months  did  not  occur  only  three  times  a  year. 

Fifthly,  In  Psalm  lxxiv.  8,  the  Psalmist,  in  view  of 
the  devastation  of  the  country  by  its  enemies,  thus  la- 
ments :  "They  said  in  their  hearts,  Let  us  destroy  them 
together :  they  have  burned  up  all  the  synagogues  of 
God  in  the  land."  It  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that 
tin-  buildings  here  rendered  synagogues  exactly  corres- 
ponded witli  those  erected  for  worship  after  the  return 
from  the  Babylonish  captivity,  but  they  were  places  for 
worship.1     Possibly  they  were,  as  Prideaux  and  others 

"See  Horn.-.  Introduction,  vol.  ii.  j>.  102,  for  &  confirmation  of 
this  view.  It  i-  there  shown  to  have  been  advocated  by  Josephus  and 
Philo,  and  also  by  (in. tin-.  Erin  sti,  Whitby,  Doddridge,  andLardner. 


44  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

suggest,  uncovered  places  of  worship,  proseuchce,  but 
they  were  buildings,  else  how  could  they  have  been 
burned  ?  And  that  they  were  not  the  halls  adjoining 
the  temple,  as  some  conjecture,  is  proved  by  the  state- 
ment that  they  were  throughout  the  land :  "  All  the 
synagogues  of  God  in  the  land."  Were  the  temple 
buildings  ubiquitous  ?  In  this  exposition  not  a  few 
eminent  commentators  agree.  Dr.  McCurdy,  in  Lange's 
Commentary  on  the  place,  says  that  these  buildings 
were  places  of  meeting  in  different  parts  of  the  land. 
Calvin  remarks  :  "  I  readily  take  the  Hebrew  moadim 
in  the  sense  of  synagogues,  because  he  says  all  the 
sanctuaries,  and  speaks  expressly  of  the  whole  land." 
Adam  Clarke  observes  :  "The  word  moadey,  which  we 
translate  synagogues,  may  be  taken  in  a  more  general 
sense,  and  mean  any  places  where  religious  assemblies 
were  held  ;  and  that  such  places  and  assemblies  did 
exist  long  before  the  Babylonish  captivity  is  pretty  evi- 
dent from  different  parts  of  Scripture."1 

Dr.  Plumptre,  in  the  article  on  synagogues  in  Smith's 
Dictionary  of  the  Bihle,  citing  Vitringa  On  the  Syna- 
gogue (pp.  271,  ff.),  says:  "  Jewish  writers  have  claimed 
for  their  synagogues  a  very  remote  antiquity.  In  well- 
nigh  every  place  where  the  phrase  "before  the  Lord" 
appears  they  recognize  in  it  a  known  sanctuary,  a  fixed 
place  of  meeting,  and  therefore  a  synagogue."  This 
view  is  taken  in  the  Targums  of  Onkelos  and  Jonathan. 

1  George  Gillespie  says :  ' '  After  the  tribes  were  settled  in  the  land 
of  promise  synagogues  were  built  in  the  case  of  an  urgent  necessity, 
because  all  Israel  could  not  come  every  .Sabbath  day  to  the  reading  and 
expounding  of  the  law  in  the  place  that  God  had  chosen  that  his  name 
might  dwell  there. "    Eng.  Pop.  Cerem.  p.  116. 


ARGUMENT  FHOM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  45 

"On  the  one  hand,"  says  Dr.  Plumptre,  "it  is  probable 
that  if  new  moons  and  Sabbaths  were  observed  at  all 
j  it  was  shown  above  that  they  were],  they  must  have 
been  attended  by  some  celebration  apart  from  as  weD 

as  at  the  tabernacle  or  the  temple.  .  .  On  the  other,  so 
far  as  we  tind  traces  of  sneli  local  worship,  it  seems  to 
have  fallen  too  readily  into  a  fetich  religion,  sacrifices 
to  ephods  and  teraphim,  in  groves  and  on  high  places, 
offering  nothing  bnt  a  contrast  to  the  'reasonable  ser- 
vice.' the  prayers,  psalms,  instruction  in  the  law,  of  the 
later  synagogue."  This,  to  some  extent  not  univer- 
sally, is  lamentably  true;  but  the  abuse  proves  the  le- 
gitimate use  of  these  stated  seasons  and  places  of  pub- 
lic worship  separately  from  the  tabernacle  and  temple 
s.-rvices. 

The  gatherings  of  the  elders  during  the  exile  for  in- 
stmction  by  the  prophet,  which  are  repeatedly  men- 
tioned in  Ezekiel,  infer  that  the  practice  of  holding  as- 
semblies for  worship  and  the  hearing  of  the  law  ante- 
dated the  captivity.  The  exiles  earned  the  custom  with 
them.  The  words  in  Ezek.  xi.  15,  16,  seem  to  imply 
that  God  manifested  his  gracious  presence  in  these 
meetings  of  his  people  as  in  little  sanctuaries,  somewhat 
as  in  former  and  better  times  he  had  done  at  the  greater 
sanctuaries  in  their  native  land.  "  This  view  is  sup- 
ported/1 remarks  the  learned  author  who  has  been 
quoted,  "by  the  LXX.,  the  Vulgate,  and  the  Author- 
ized Version.  It  is  confirmed  by  the  general  consensus 
of  Jewish  interpret. 

If  these  arguments  have  availed  to  prove  that  the 
people  of  Israel  were  accustomed  to  hold  stated  meet- 
far  worship  apart  from  the  servicesof  the  taberna- 
5 


46  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

cle  and  the  temple,  the  well- ascertained  practice  of  the 
post-exilian  synagogues  clearly  establishes  the  absence 
of  instrumental  music  from  those  weekly  assemblies. 
For  had  that  kind  of  music  been  employed  in  those 
meetings,  it  would  inevitably  have  been  continued  in 
the  synagogue -worship.  Every  conceivable  considera- 
tion would  have  opposed  its  elimination — the  powerful 
force  of  long-continued  precedents,  the  prescriptive 
usages  of  the  past  hallowed  by  sacred  associations,  the 
conservative  sentiment  which  resists  a  revolutionary 
innovation,  and  more  than  all  the  demands  of  human 
taste  and  the  requirements  of  an  acknowledged  artistic 
standard.  But  it  is  certain  that  no  instrumental  music 
was  used  in  the  worship  of  the  later  synagogue.  The 
argument  is  well-nigh  irresistible. 

If  it  be  contended  that  instrumental  music,  which 
had  previously  existed,  was  purged  out  of  the  regular 
worship  of  the  Jews  by  the  post-exilian  reformation, 
the  question  at  issue  is  given  up.  For  if  the  Jews  re- 
formed the  worship  of  the  church  by  abandoning  in- 
strumental music,  much  more  should  it  have  been  dis- 
carded at  the  greater  reformation  inaugurated  by  Chris- 
tianity. Otherwise  it  would  be  conceded  that  the  Chris- 
tian Church  was  less  pure  in  its  worship,  less  thoroughly 
reformed,  than  was  the  Jewish  Church  in  its  later  and 
better  state. 

It  has  thus  been  shown  that  the  essential  parts  of 
divine  worship  were  maintained  by  the  people  of  God 
in  their  ordinary  Sabbath-day  worship  during  the  Jew- 
ish dispensation  ;  and  it  is  the  purpose  of  this  discus- 
sion, as  it  shall  be  developed,  to  evince  the  fact  that 
only  these  essential  elements  of  worship  passed  over 


ABOUXENT  FKo.M  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  47 

into  the  Christian  dispensation.  They  are  permanent, 
and  like  the  covenant  of  grace  in  its  generic  and  essen- 
tial features  as  contiadistingnished  to  the  specific  and 
accidental,  were  designed  to  endure  unchanged  through 
all  dispensations. 

_  The  second  kind  of  elements  of  worship  in  the 
Mosaic  economy  was  the  Specific  or  Accidental^  which 
was  Tii])'t<;tl  <in<]  Symbolical^  and  as  such  temporary  in 
its  nature.1  Warbnrton  says  that  types  and  symbols 
are  ^enerically  the  same  in  that  they  are  both  repre- 
sentations, but  they  are  specifically  different  in  that  the 
type  represents  something  future,  the  symbol  something 
past  or  present.  Hence  he  regarded  the  sacraments 
of  the  New  Testament  as  symbols.  Thorn  well  observes 
that  they  differ  from  each  other  in  the  circumstance 
that  types  teach  by  analogy,  and  symbols  by  expres- 
my,  signs.  Without  pausing  to  discuss  the  nature  of 
the  specific  differences  between  them,  or  to  consider 
the  question  whether  some  of  the  elements  in  the  Jew- 
ish  ritual  service  were  not  at  the  same  time  both  typi- 
cal and  symbolical,  I  proceed  to  show  that  the  types 
of  the  temple-worship  did  not,  as  is  too  often  carelessly 
assumed,  have  exclusive  reference  to  the  sacrifice  of 
Christ,  but  that  some  of  them  represented  beforehand 
the  effects  to  be  produced  in  the  New  Testament  dis- 
pensation by  the  Holy  Ghost;  and  I  will  then  attempt 
further  to   show,   that  the  instrumentar  music  of  the 

1  Let  it  be  observed  that,  in  making  this  distinction  between  essen- 
tial and  accidental  elements  of  worship,  by  the  accidental  are  meant 
element  tommamied.      With  the  Reformed  and  Puritan  di- 

vines, I  utterly  repudiate  the  distinction  as  used  by  Prelatists  to  justify 
such  accidental  elements  as  human  wisdom  or  church  authority  adds, 
without  divine  warrant,  to  the  essential  elements  of  worship. 


48  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

temple-worship  fell  into  the  latter  class,  and  therefore,  as 
having  fulfilled  its  typical  and  temporary  office,  passed 
away  and  vanished  upon  the  introduction  of  the  Chris- 
tian economy.  But  before  these  points  are  developed, 
it  is  requisite  that  a  few  things  be  premised. 

In  the  first  place,  no  element  in  the  synagogue-wor- 
ship was  typical  and  temporary.  This  is  too  evident 
to  require  argument.  The  reading  and  exposition  of 
the  divine  Word,  hortatory  addresses,  the  singing  of 
psalms,  and  the  contribution  of  alms,  are  elements  of 
worship  which  cannot  be  regarded  as  types  foreshadow- 
ing substantial  realities  to  come.  They  belong  to  the 
class  essential  and  permanent. 

In  the  second  place,  the  essential  and  permanent  ele- 
ments of  worship,  as  fundamental  to  all  public  religious 
service,  entered  of  course  into  the  temple-worship.  In 
this  respect  there  was  no  difference  between  the  wor- 
ship of  the  temple  and  that  of  the  synagogue. 

In  the  third  place,  whatever  element  of  worship  was 
absent  from  the  synagogue  and  present  in  the  temple 
was  typical  or  symbolical  in  its  character.  Having  in 
common  what  was  essential  and  permanent,  the  specific 
difference  between  them  lay  in  the  possession  by  one 
of  the  accidental  and  temporary,  and  the  non-posses- 
sion by  the  other  of  the  same.  Now  the  only  elements 
falling  into  this  latter  class  were  the  typical  and  sym- 
bolical. These'  were  embraced  in  the  service  of  the 
temple  and  excluded  from  that  of  the  synagogue.  Con- 
sequently, as  instrumental  music  was  not  included  in 
the  worship  of  the  synagogue,  but  was  in  that  of  the 
temple,  it  must  be  regarded  as  having  been  either  typi- 
cal or  symbolical.     Symbolical  it  cannot  be  considered ; 


\i:. km i:\t  PROM  tin:  OLD  TESTAMENT.  49 

it  must  therefore  have  been  typical.  If  so,  the  neces- 
sity is  recognized  of  attempting,  in  the  progress  of  this 
discussion,  to  show  of  what  it  was  typical. 

Iu  the  fourth  place,  some  of  the  elements  of  the  tem- 
ple-service were  directly  and  solely  typical  of  Christ, 
especially  as  a  priest  and  as  the  atoning  sacrifice  to  be 
offered  for  sin.  Others  were  typical  only  of  the  Holy 
Ghost;  and  still  others  were  typical,  at  one  and  the 
same  time,  both  of  Christ  and  the  Holy  Spirit.  To  use 
the  technically  accurate  language  of  theology,  the  im- 
p»-t ration  or  acquisition  of  salvation  is  attributed  to 
Christ,  the  application  of  it  to  the  Holy  Spirit.  But 
the  grace  which  applies  the  benefits  secured  by  the 
work  of  Christ  is  closely  related  to  the  work  by  which 
they  were  acquired.  Indeed  it  is  itself  acquired  by  the 
merit  and  intercession  of  the  Redeemer.  They  there- 
fore suppose  and  implicate  each  other.  Consequently 
some  of  the  types  have  a  double  reference  to  both. 
When  they  immediately  represent  the  Holy  Spirit  they 
at  the  same  time  mediately  represent  Christ.  Some 
of  the  positions  taken  in  these  preliminary  remarks  may 
be  justly  regarded  and  carried  along  with  the  discus- 
sion as  assumptions  demanding  no  proof,  and  others 
will  be  substantiated  as  the  argument  proceeds. 

Ftrst,  The  offices  and  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  were 
as  clearly  and  definitely  predicted  and  promised  in  the 
Old  Testament  Scriptures  as  were  those  of  Christ.  The 
truth  is  that  they  cannot  possibly  be.  disjoined.  Neither 
would  be  operative  to  salvation  without  the  other.  The 
whole  old  Testament  revelation,  so  far  as  it  was  evan- 
gelical, bore  a  twofold  reference  to  the  blood  and  the 


50  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

water,  to  the  meritorious  acquisition  of  salvation  by  the 
righteousness  and  atoning  death  of  Christ  and  its  effi- 
cacious application  by  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  In 
the  conception  of  redemption  which  we  find  everywhere 
in  the  Bible  justification  and  sanctification  are  never 
dissociated.  They  are  ever  represented  as  the  comple- 
mentary and  equally  necessary  factors  of  one  whole 
and  complete  salvation.  This  is  the  very  genius  of  the 
gospel  as  well  before  as  after  the  death  of  the  Son  of 
God.  As  it  was  proclaimed  to  our  first  parents,  re- 
vealed to  Abel,  Enoch  and  Noah,  and,  as  the  apostle 
expressly  testifies,  "  preached  before  to  Abraham,"  it 
was  essentially  promissory  in  its  nature.  The  same 
promissory  character  was  still  more  fully  disclosed  in 
the  features  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  in  the  Psalms 
and  Prophets,  and,  as  I  hope  to  show,  in  the  typical 
rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  temple-service.  That  the 
person  and  offices  of  the  Holy  Spirit  were  distinctly 
known  to  believers  under  the  old  dispensation  is  proved 
by  utterances  in  the  Psalms,  a  book  which  represents 
the  experience  of  God's  true  people  in  every  condition 
of  their  history.  In  the  51st  Psalm  we  have  the  prayers : 
"Take  not  thy  Holy  Spirit  from  me;"  "Uphold  me 
with  thy  free  Spirit;"  and  in  the  143rd,  "Thy  Spirit 
is  good ;  lead  me  to  the  land  of  uprightness."  Isaiah 
(chap,  lxiii.  10)  says :  "  They  rebelled  and  vexed  his 
Holy  Spirit,"  which  words,  as  they  were  spoken  of  the 
"  house  of  Israel,"  suppose  that  they  knew,  or  ought  to 
have  known,  the  Holy  Spirit  as  their  guide.  It  may 
be  added  that  the  sacred  historians  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment over  and  over  again  assert,  with  reference  to  the 
heroic  worthies  of  that  dispensation,  that  the  Spirit  of 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  51 

the  Lord  came  upon  them.  All  this  goes  to  show  that 
the  promises  which  related  to  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
at  a  future  period  of  the  church's  development  were  not 
unintelligible  by  those  to  whom  they  were  delivered. 

Let  us  cite  some  of  those  declarations  which  point  to 
the  work  of  the  Spirit  in  the  new  dispensation.  Isa. 
xxxii.  15-17  :  After  describing  the  desolation  that  would 
be  visited  upon  the  land  of  Israel,  the  prophet  says: 
"  Until  the  Spirit  be  poured  upon  us  from  on  high,  and 
the  wilderness  be  a  fruitful  field,  and  the  fruitful  field 
shall  be  counted  for  a  forest.  Then  judgment  shall 
dwell  in  the  wilderness,  and  righteousness  remain  in 
the  fruitful  field.  And  the  work  of  righteousness  shall 
be  peace  ;  and  the  effect  of  righteousness  quietness  and 
assurance  forever."  Isa.  xlii.  1 :  "  Behold  my  servant, 
whom  I  uphold ;  mine  elect,  in  whom  my  soul  delight- 
eth  ;  I  have  put  my  Spirit  upon  him:  he  shall  bring 
forth  judgment  to  the  Gentiles."  Isa.  xliv.  3,  4:  "For 
I  will  pour  water  upon  him  that  is  thirsty,  and  floods 
upon  the  dry  ground :  I  will  pour  my  Spirit  upon  thy 
seed,  and  my  blessing  upon  thine  offspring ;  and  they 
shall  spring  up  as  among  the  grass,  as  willows  by  the 
water  courses."  Isa.  lix.  19,  20,  21:  "So  shall  they 
fear  the  name  of  the  Lord  from  the  west,  and  his  glory 
from  the  rising  of  the  sun.  When  the  enemy  shall 
come  in  like  a  flood,  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  shall  lift  up 
a  standard  against  him.  And  the  Redeemer  shall  come 
to  Zion,  and  unto  them  that  turn  from  transgression  in 
Jacob,  saith  the  Lord.  As  for  me,  this  is  my  covenant 
with  them,  saith  the  Lord ;  my  Spirit  that  is  upon  thee, 
and  my  words  which  I  have  put  in  thy  mouth,  shall 
not  depart  out  of  thy  mouth,  nor  out  of  the  mouth  of 


52  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IX  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

thy  seed,  nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed's  seed,  saith 
the  Lord,  from  henceforth  and  forever."     This  pro- 
phecy in  regard  to  the  Spirit  resisting  a  flood  of  ene- 
mies is  referred  by  the  Eabbins  to  the  coming  of  the 
Messiah.     Ezek.  xxxvi.  25-27:    "Then  will  I  sprinkle 
clean  water  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean :  from  all 
your  filthiness,  and  from  all  your  idols,  will  I  cleanse 
you.     A  new  heart  also  will  I  give  you,  and  a  new 
spirit  will  I  put  within  you :  and  I  will  take  away  the 
stony  heart  out  of  your  flesh,  and  I  will  give  you  an 
heart  of  flesh.     And  I  will  put  my  Spirit  within  you, 
and  cause  you  to  walk  in  my  statutes,  and  ye  shall  keep 
my  judgments  and  do  them."     Ezek.  xxxvii.  13,  14: 
"  And  ye  shall  knoAv  that  I  am  the  Lord,  when  I  have 
opened  your  graves,  O  my  people,  and  brought  you  up 
out  of  your  graves,  and  shall  put  my  Spirit  in  you,  and 
ye  shall  live,   and  I  shall  place  you  in  your  own  land : 
then  shall  ye  know  that  I  the  Lord  have  spoken  it,  and 
performed  it,  saith  the  Lord."     Joel  ii.  28,  29 :  "  And 
it  shall  come  to  pass  afterward,  that  I  will  pour  out  my 
Spirit  upon  all  flesh ;  and  your  sons  and  your  daughters 
shall  prophesy,  your  old  men  shall  dream  dreams,  your 
young  men  shall  see  visions :  and  also  upon  the  servants 
and  upon  the  handmaids  in  those  days  will  I  pour  out 
my  Spirit."     For  the  reference  of  this  glorious  promise 
to  New  Testament  times  we  have  the  inspired  testimony 
of  the  apostle  Peter  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  when  it 
was  measurably  but  remarkably  fulfilled.     In  close  con- 
nection with  the  promise  that  a  fountain  shall  be  opened 
to  the  house  of  David,  and  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jeru- 
salem, for  sin  and  for  uncleanness,  Zechariah  utters  also 
the  promise,  xii.  10 :  "And  I  will  pour  upon  the  house 


ARGUMENT  PBOM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  53 

of  David,  and  upon  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  the 
spirit  of  grace  and  of  Supplications."  It  matters  little 
whether  or  not  with  some  Ave  take  the  word  spirit  here 
to  indicate  a  disposition.  That  disposition  can  be  pro- 
duced only  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  apostle  Paul,  it 
deserves  to  be  considered,  terms  the  Spirit  "that  holy 
Spirit  of  promise,"  Eph.  i.  13 ;  and  in  Gal.  iii.  13,  14, 
he  speaks  very  explicitly  about  this  matter :  "  Christ 
hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made 
a  curse  for  us :  for  it  is  written,  Cursed  is  every  one 
that  hangeth  on  a  tree  :  that  the  blessing  of  Abraham 
might  come  on  the  Gentiles  through  Jesus  Christ;  that 
we  might  receive  the  promise  of  the  Spirit  through 
faith.1'  Hoav  closely  does  he  couple  the  atoning  work 
of  Christ  and  the  applying  work  of  the  Spirit!  And 
how  clearly  does  he  enounce  the  fact  that  the  Spirit,  as 
well  as  Christ,  was  promised  in  the  ancient  Scriptures 
and  the  early  revelations  made  to  the  people  of  God! 
Secondly,  The  offices  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  together 
with  their  saving  and  joy -imparting  effects,  were  typified, 
as  well  as  the  priestly  work  and  expiatory  death  of 
Christ,  in  the  services  which  were  peculiar  to  the  tem- 
ple. In  view  of  what  has  been  shown  concerning  the 
clearness  and  fulness  with  which  the  work  of  the  Spirit 
in  New  Testament  times  is  announced  in  the  propheti- 
cal writings  we  would  be  prepared  to  rind  this  true  upon 
an  examination  of  the  temple  types;  nor  will  we  be  dis- 
appointed by  such  an  investigation.  Those  types,  as 
well  as  the  prophecies,  proclaimed  the  gospel.  They 
powerfully  preached  the  whole  salvation  of  the  gospel, — 
the  blood  and  the  water,  justification  and  sanctification. 
How  could  it  be  otherwise?     As  God  intended  by  these 


54  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHUBCH  WORSHIP. 

typical  elements  to  represent,  as  by  object-lessons,  the 
scheme  of  redemption  to  his  ancient  people  who  lived 
before  its  actual  achievement,  is  it  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose that  he  would  have  furnished  an  imperfect  and 
inadequate  pre-figuration  of  its  essential  parts  ?  Would 
he  have  omitted  all  instruction  beforehand  in  regard  to 
the  mode  of  its  application  ?  It  is  difficult  to  conceive 
how  any  theologian  can  fail  to  see  the  obvious  fore- 
shad  owing  in  the  temple  furniture  and  service  of  the 
grace  and  work  of  the  ever-blessed  Spirit.  I  shall  se- 
lect for  comment  only  those  elements  which  appear 
with  the  greatest  clearness  to  typify  the  offices  of  the 
Holy  Spirit. 

The  Washing  with  Water.  Why  was  water  employed 
as  a  type,  if  not  to  signify  what  the  New  Testament 
Scriptures  so  unmistakably  characterize  under  that 
figure?  "Except  a  man,"  said  the  Lord  Jesus,  "be 
born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  God."  (Jno.  iii.  5).  The  preposition 
here  is  omitted  before  the  Spirit  in  the  original,  and 
the  words  may  well  be  rendered  "of  water  even  the 
Spirit."  At  least  this  must  be  the  meaning  in  the  judg- 
ment of  any  one  who  would  not  co-ordinate  external 
water  with  the  almighty  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the 
new  creation  of  the  soul.  And  to  talk  of  one's  being 
spiritually  born  in  part  of  an  outward  symbol  is  to 
speak  unintelligibly.  Paul  several  times  uses  washing 
and  water  to  signify  cleansing  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Eph.  v.  26  :  "  That  he  might  sanctify  and  cleanse  it  [the 
church]  with  the  washing  of  water  by  the  word." 
1  Cor.  vi.  11:  "And  such  were  some  of  you;  but  ye 
are  washed,  but  ye  are  sanctified,  but  ye  are  justified 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  55 

in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of 
our  God."  Tit.  iii.  5 :  "According  to  his  mercy  he 
Bayed  as,  by  the  washing  of  regeneration  and  [or,  even 
the]  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  John  emphasizes 
the  issue  of  water  and  blood  from  the  side  of  Jesus  on 
the  cross,  and  declares,  "  This  is  he  that  came  by  water 
and  blood,  even  Jesus  Christ;  not  by  water  only,  but 
by  water  and  blood.  And  it  is  the  Spirit  that  beareth 
witness,  because  the  Spirit  is  truth.  And  there  are 
three  that  bear  witness  in  earth,  the  Spirit,  and  the 
water,  and  the  blood ;  and  these  three  agree  in  one." 
(Jno.  xx.  34 ;  1  Jno.  v.  6,  8.)  The  Spirit  bears  witness 
both  to  justification  and  sanctification.  It  is  he  who 
sanctifies  and  he  who  bears  witness  with  his  own  work 
in  the  soul.  The  analogy,  then,  between  the  type  and 
the  anti-type,  as  to  the  offices  respectively  discharged, 
leads  to  the  conclusion  that  the  lavers  and  ablutions  of 
the  temple  typified  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  This 
view  is  far  from  being  singular.  It  has  the  support  of 
the  illustrious  Lightfoot.  "The  end  of  it  [the  laver] 
was,"  he  says,  "to  wash  the  hands  and  feet  of  the 
priests ;  but  the  most  ultimate  end  was  to  signify  the 
washing  and  purifying  by  the  Spirit  of  grace,  which  is 
so  oft  called  water  in  the  Scripture.  And  so  the  sprink- 
ling of  the  blood  of  the  sacrifice,  and  the  washing  in 
the  water  of  the  laver,  did  read  the  two  great  divinity 
lectures,  of  washing  by  the  blood  of  Christ  from  guilt, 
and  by  the  grace  of  God  from  filthiness  and  pollution." ' 
This  witness  is  true,  and  his  learning  and  piety  render 

1  W'»rks,  Vol.  ix.,  p.  419:  London,  1823.  Fairbairn  takes  substan- 
tially the  same  view:  Typology  <>/  Scripture,  Vol.  ii.,  pp.  212,  213. 
See  also  M'Ewen,  Types,  Bk.  iii.,  §  3. 


56  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

it  superfluous  to  cite  the  testimouy  of  others  to  the  same 
purpose. 

The  Anointing  Oil.  Is  it  not  clear  from  Scripture 
that  this  typified  the  Holy  Spirit?  Under  the  Old 
Testament  economy  priests,  prophets  and  kings  were 
anointed.  Did  the  anointing  oil  of  the  temple  signify 
that  Christ  would  anoint  himself?  or  rather,  did  it  not 
prefigure  his  anointing  by  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  He  is  the 
Christ,  God's  anointed  One,  and  the  holy  Unction 
was  the  Spirit  of  wisdom,  power  and  grace.  Acts  x. 
38:  "How  God  anointed  Jesus  of  Nazareth  with  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  with  power."  This  direct  testimony 
is  sufficient.  The  anointing  oil  of  the  temple  discharged 
the  typical  office  of  prefiguring  the  holy  Unction  with 
which  Jesus  was  anointed,  and  who,  coming  from  him 
upon  all  his  people,  teacheth  them  all  things.  (1  Jno. 
ii.  27.)  This  view  also  is  sustained  by  the  authority  of 
the  distinguished  scholar  who  has  already  been  cited. 
"  The  oil  and  anointing,"  he  observes,  "  whereAvith  the 
priests  and  the  vessels  of  the  Lord's  house  were  sanc- 
tified, did  denote  the  Word  and  the  Spirit  of  God, 
whereby  he  sanctifieth  the  vessels  of  his  election,  even 
persons  of  his  choice,  to  his  service  and  acceptance."1 

The  Oil  in  the  Golden  Candlestick.  Taking  into  view 
the  analogy  of  Scripture  teaching,  one  cannot  doubt 
that  this  oil  typified  the  Holy  Spirit.  I  cite  the  re- 
marks upon  this  point  of  the  Rev.  Patrick  Fairbairn,  in 
his  Typology  of  Scripture  : 2  "  This  symbol  has  received 
such  repeated  illustration  in  other  parts  of  Scripture, 

yIbid.,  p.  440.  This  view  is  also  maintained  by  M'Ewen,  Types,  Bk. 
iii.  §  3. 

2  Vol.  ii.,  pp.  257,  258. 


Aiit i  r  m  i:nt  from  the  old  testament.  57 

that  there  is  scarcely  any  room  for  difference  of  opinion 
as  to  its  fundamental  import  and  main  idea.  In  the 
tirst  chapter  of    Revelation,  the   image   occurs  in  its 

original  form,  'the  seven  golden  lamps'  (not  candle- 
sticks, as  in  our  version,  but  the  seven  lamps  on  the 
one  candlestick)  are  explained  to  mean  'the  seven 
churches.'  These  churches,  however,  not  as  of  them- 
selves, but  as  replenished  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and 
full  of  holy  light  and  energy  ;  and  hence  in  the  fourth 
chapter  of  the  same  book  we  again  meet  with  seven 
lamps  of  tire  before  the  throne  of  God,  which  are  said 
to  be  '  the  seven  Spirits  of  God ' — either  the  one  Spirit 
of  God  in  his  varieties  of  holy  and  spiritual  working,1 
or  seven  presiding  spirits  of  light  fitted  by  that  Spirit 
for  the  ministrations  referred  to  in  the  heavenly  vision. 
Throughout  Scripture,  as  we  have  already  seen  in  chap- 
ter three  of  this  part,  oil  is  uniformly  taken  for  a  sym- 
bol of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  so,  not  less  with  respect 
to  its  light-giving  property,  as  to  its  qualities  for  anoint- 
ing  and  refreshment;  and  hence  the  prophet  Zechariah 
i  chap,  iv.)  represents  the  exercise  of  the  Spirit's  gracious 
and  victorious  energy  in  behalf  of  the  church  under 
the  image  of  two  olive  trees  pouring  oil  into  the  golden 
candlestick,  the  church  being  manifestly  imaged  in  the 
candlestick,  and  the  Spirit's  assisting  grace  in  the  per- 
petual current  of  oil  with  which  it  was  supplied."2 


I 


1  This  is  probably  the  true  view. 

1  In  opposition  to  Fairbairn,  and  in  agreement  with  the  majority  of 
orthodox  commentators,  I  would  regard  the  golden  candlestick  as  itself 
■  type  of  Christ,  and  the  liyhts  merely,  the  lamps  of  revelation,  as  re- 
presenting the  Church.  The  oil,  with  Fairbairn,  I  take  to  typify  the  il- 
luminating grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  but  the  true  Container  of  that  oil 
6 


58  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

TJie  Feast  of  Pentecost.  "  This  festival,"  says  Home, 
in  his  Introduction,1  "had  a  typical  reference  to  the 
miraculous  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  apos- 
tles and  first-fruits  of  the  Christian  Church  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost,  .  .  on  the  fiftieth  day  after  the  resurrection 
of  Jesus  Christ."  He  refers,  in  support  of  this  view,  to 
Schultz,  Lamy,  Lightfoot,  Michaelis,  Keland  and  Alber. 

Home  further  says:2  "One  of  the  most  remarkable 
ceremonies  performed  at  this  feast,  in  the  later  period 
of  the  Jewish  polity,  was  the  libation  or  pouring  out  of 
water,  drawn  from  the  fountain  or  pool  of  Siloam, 
upon  the  altar.  As,  according  to  the  Jews  themselves,3 
this  water  was  an  emblem  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  Jesus 
Christ  applied  the  ceremony  and  the  intention  of  it  to 
himself  when  he  cried,  saying,  If  any  man  thirst,  let 
him  come  unto  me  and  drink.     (Jno.  vii.  37-39.)" 

Treating  of  this  feast,  Fairbairn  makes  the  following 
instructive  remarks : 4  "  The  rite  that  commemorated  the 
typical  redemption  had  to  take  precedence  of  anything 
belonging  to  the  coming  harvest,  even  of  the  presenta- 
tion of  its  first  ripening  sheaf.  But  the  work  of  re- 
demption being  finished,  and  the  feast  of  fat  things  so 

is  originally  Christ  himself,  not  the  church  (except,  perhaps,  deriva- 
tively), which  receives  it  from  him  and  manifests  it  in  a  world  of  dark- 
ness.    See  M'Ewen,  Types,  Bk.  iii. ,  §  3. 

1  Vol.  ii.,  p.  126. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  127.  M'Ewen  strongly  urges  this  typical  significance  of 
the  Feast  of  Pentecost. 

3  In  confirmation  of  this  assertion  the  author  quotes  the  following- 
passage  from  the  Jerusalem  Talmud :  ' '  Why  is  it  called  the  place  or 
house  of  drawing  ?  Because  from  thence  they  draw  the  Holy  Spirit  : 
as  it  is  written,  And  ye  shall  draw  water  with  joy  from  the  wells  of  sal- 
vation. " 

4  Typol.  Scrip.,  Vol.  ii.  p.  311. 


AIM; l  Ml  AT  PROM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  59 

long  in  preparation  being  ready,  then  the  freest  wel- 
come is  given  {o  eome  and  be  satisfied  with  the  loving- 
kindness  of  the  Lord.  And  Christ  having  suffered  and 
been  glorified,  what  day  eonld  be  so  fitly  ehosen  for  the 
descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  as  the  day  of  Pentecost? 
For  to  what  end  was  the  Spirit  given?  To  take  of 
the  things  of  Christ,  and  show  them  to  Christ's  people; 
that  is,  to  turn  the  riches  of  his  purchased  redemption 
from  being  a  treasure  laid  up  among  the  precious 
things  of  God,  into  a  treasure  received  and  possessed 
by  his  people,  so  that  they  might  be  able  to  rejoice,  and 
call  others  to  rejoice  with  them,  in  the  goodness  of  his 
house.  Now  the  work  of  God  is  finished,  henceforth 
the  fruitful  experience  of  it  among  his  people  proceeds; 
and  the  first-fruits  of  the  Spirit  having  assuredly  been 
given,  he  can  never  withdraw  his  hand  till  the  whole 
inheritance  of  blessing  is  enjoyed." 

Instrumental  Music. 

In  the  first  place,  it  has  already  been  shown  that 
neither  by  (rod's  direction  nor  in  the  actual  practice  of 
his  people  in  the  old  dispensation  were  instruments  of 
music,  susceptible  of  modulation,  employed  elsewhere 
in  public  worship  than  in  the  temple.  They  were  not 
used  in  the  tabernacle  until  David  was  preparing  to 
build  the  temple,  or  in  the  synagogue. 

In  tin-  second  place,  it  has  also  been  shown  that 
whatever  element  of  worship  was  embraced  in  the  tein- 
ple-service,  and  was  absent  from  that  of  the  synagogue, 
was  typical  in  its  character.  This  was  true  of  instru- 
mental music.  Therefore,  as  an  element  of  the  temple- 
worship,  it  was  typical. 


60  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

In  the  third  place,  it  has  been  proved  that  some  of 
the  elements  contained  in  the  temple-service  were  typi- 
cal of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  of  the  effects  to  be  produced 
by  him  in  the  New  Testament  dispensation,  such  as 
consecration,  illumination,  purification,  and  the  conver- 
sion of  souls ;  and  now, 

In  the  fourth  place,  I  lay  down  the  proposition  that 
the  instrumental  music  of  the  temple-worship  was  typi- 
cal of  the  joy  and  triumph  of  God's  believing  people  to 
result  from  the  plentiful  effusion  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in 
New  Testament  times. 

It  was  suited  to  discharge  such  a  significant  office  in 
the  age  in  which  God  saw  fit  to  prescribe  its  employ- 
ment as  a  part  of  a  typical  ritual.  It  produces  an  ex- 
hilaration of  the  senses,  and  that  is  about  all  that  it 
does  produce.  We  have  seen  that  the  Israelites,  like 
all  other  peoples,  employed  it  in  their  national  and  secu- 
lar rejoicings.  Now,  the  Mosaic  dispensation  was  not 
peculiarly  a  dispensation  of  the  Spirit.  It  is  a  dis- 
tinctive glory  of  the  Christian  economy  that  it  is  "  the 
ministration  of  the  Spirit."  "But,"  says  Paul,  "we 
speak  the  wisdom  of  God  in  a  mystery,  even  the  hid- 
den wisdom,  which  God  ordained  before  the  world  unto 
our  glory:  which  none  of  the  princes  of  this  world 
knew :  for  had  they  known  it,  they  would  not  have  cru- 
cified the  Lord  of  glory.  But  as  it  is  written,  Eye  hath 
not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have  entered  into  the 
heart  of  man,  the  things  which  God  hath  prepared  for 
them  that  love  him.  But  God  hath  revealed  them  unto 
us  by  his  Spirit:  for  the  Spirit  searcheth  all  things, 
yea,  the  deep  things  of  God."  1  Cor.  ii.  7-10.  This 
revelation,  partially  made  in  the  old  dispensation,  is  far 


ABGUMENT  PROM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  61 

more  folly  unfolded  even  in  this  life  in  fche  present,  and 
will  be  still  more  amply  and  gloriously  in  the  heavenly. 
"But  if,"  also  says  the  same  apostle,  "the  ministration 

of  death,  written  and  engraven  in  stones,  was  glorious, 
so  that  the  children  of  Israel  could  not  steadfastly  be- 
hold the  face  of  Moses  for  the  glory  of  his  countenance  ; 
which  glory  was  to  be  done  away:  how  shall  not  the 
ministration  of  the  Spirit  be  rather  glorious  ?  For  if 
the  ministration  of  condemnation  be  glory,  much  more 
doth  the  ministration  of  righteousness  exceed  in  glory. 
For  even  that  which  was  made  glorious  had  no  glory  in 
this  respect,  by  reason  of  the  glory  that  excelleth."  (2 
Cor.  iii.  7-10.)  In  the  New  Testament  we  are  clearly 
taught  the  reason  of  this.  It  was  not  meet  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  should  be  copiously  poured  out  before  the 
actual  offering  up  of  the  great  atoning  sacrifice  and  the 
entrance  of  the  true  high  priest  into  the  heavenly  holy 
of  holies.  "  In  the  last  day,  that  great  day  of  the  feast, 
Jesus  stood  and  cried,  saying,  If  any  man  thirst,  let 
him  come  unto  me,  and  drink.  He  that  believeth  on 
me,  as  the  Scripture  hath  said,  out  of  his  belly  shall 
How  rivers  of  living  water.  (But  this  spake  he  of  the 
Spirit,  which  they  that  believe  on  him  should  receive; 
for  the  Holy  Ghost  was  not  yet  given,  because  that 
Jes  us  was  not  yet  glorified.")  (Jno.  vii.  37-39.)  As,  then, 
in  the  ancient  dispensation,  the  veil  of  the  temple  was 
not  rent  in  twain,  as  the  full  liberty  of  adoption  and 
boldness  of  access  into  the  presence  of  God,  with  the 
assurance  of  faith  and  hope,  which  makes  heaven  begin 
on  earth,  were  not  granted  to  the  worshipper,  it  pleased 
God  to  typify  the  spiritual  joy  to  spring  from  a  richer 
ii  of  the  Holy  Spirit  through  the  sensuous  rap- 


62  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

ture  engendered  by  the  passionate  melody  of  stringed 
instruments  and  the  clash  of  cymbals,  by  the  blare  of 
trumpets  and  the  ringing  of  harps.  It  was  the  instruc- 
tion of  his  children  in  a  lower  school,  preparing  them 
for  a  higher.  Meanwhile,  it  must  not  be  forgotten, 
they  were  habitually  recalled,  even  in  that  dispensa- 
tion, by  the  simpler  and  more  spiritual  worship  of  their 
weekly  assemblies,  to  a  service  of  God  which,  as  it  had 
always  existed  in  the  past,  contained  in  itself  a  pro- 
phecy of  permanence  through  the  whole  future  devel- 
opment of  the  church. 

That  the  instrumental  music  of  the  temple,  which,  as 
we  have  seen,  was  introduced  into  its  services  only  by 
express  divine  warrant,  was  typical,  and  therefore  tem- 
porary, is  further  proved  by  the  fact  that  it  was  not 
practised  in  the  apostolic  church.  This,  it  is  true,  re- 
mains to  be  established  in  the  progress  of  the  argu- 
ment, but  it  is  so  generally  admitted  that  it  may  here 
be  assumed.  Most  certainly  if  the  King  and  Law-giver 
of  the  church  had  intended  that  kind  of  music  to  accom- 
pany its  singing  of  praise  under  the  New  Testament,  he 
would  have  instructed  its  inspired  organizers  to  that 
effect.  That  they  did  not  sanction  it  is  evidence  that 
he  did  not  command  it,  and  that  in  turn  proves  that  it 
was  designed  to  be  merely  typical  during  the  contin- 
uance of  the  temple- worship. 

Now,  it  must  have  been  typical,  either  of  Christ  in 
his  person  or  offices,  or  of  the  use  of  instrumental  music 
by  the  church  in  the  New  Testament  dispensation  or 
some  other  outward  action,  or  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  his 
person  or  offices,  or  of  an  effect  produced  by  his  grace. 
There  is  no  other  supposition  I  can  think  of.     There  is 


ARGUMENT  PROM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  63 

no  conceivable  sense  in  which  it  could  have  typified 
the  person  or  offices  of  Christ.  There  is  no  sense  in 
which  it  is  supposable  that  it  typified  any  other  exter- 
nal action  of  the  church  than  the  use  of  instrumental 
music.  Tt  could  not  have  typified  the  use  of  instru- 
mental music  itself,  for  that  would  involve  the  absurdity 
of  a  thing  typifying  itself— of  an  identity  of  the  repre- 
sentation with  the  thing  represented,  of  a  type  with  its 
antitype.  We  cannot  imagine  any  way  in  which  it 
could  have  typified  either  the1  invisible  person  or  the 
offices  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  We  are  shut  up,  then,  to 
the  position  that  it  was  typical  of  an  effect  to  be  pro- 
duced by  the  grace  of  the  divine  Spirit;  and  I  but  echo 
the  opinion  of  eminent  and  godly  divines  in  maintain- 
ing that  it  was  designed  to  be  a  type  of  that  spiritual 
and  triumphant  joy  which  is  engendered  by  the  plenti- 
ful effusion  of  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  believers  under  the 
Christian  dispensation.  The  Spirit  having  been  poured 
out,  and  that  abundant  joy  of  believers  having  been  ex- 
perienced, th<i  shadow  gave  way  to  the  substance,  tin; 
type  to  the  antitype. 

In  order  to  evince  the  fact  that  this  view  is  not  novel 
or  singular,  I  adduce  the  testimony  of  a  few  distin- 
guished theologians,  showing,  in  general,  that  instru- 
mental music  was  typical,  and,  in  particular,  that  it  was 
typical  of  the  graces  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

"  To  sing  the  praises  of  God  upon  the  harp  and 
psaltery,"  says  Calvin,  " unquestionably  formed  a  part 
of  the  training  of  the  law  and  of  the  service  of  God  un- 
der that  dispensation  of  sJ,mJ,nr.-<  and  figures;  but  they 
an    not  now  to  be  used  in  public  thanksgiving."1     He 

1  On  Ps.  lxxi.  22. 


64  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IX  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

says  again:  "With  respect  to  the  tabret,  harp,  and 
psaltery,  we  have  formerly  observed,  and  will  find  it 
necessary  afterwards  to  repeat  the  same  remark,  that 
the  Levites,  under  the  law,  were  justified  in  making  use 
of  instrumental  music  in  the  worship  of  God ;  it  having 
been  his  will  to  train  his  people,  while  they  were  yet 
tender  and  like  children,  by  such  rudiments  until  the 
coming  of  Christ.  But  now,  when  the  clear  light  of 
the  gospel  has  dissipated  the  shadows  of  the  law  and 
taught  us  that  God  is  to  be  served  in  a  simpler  form,  it 
would  be  to  act  a  foolish  and  mistaken  part  to  imitate 
that  which  the  prophet  enjoined  only  upon  those  of  his 
own  time."  1  He  further  observes :  "  We  are  to  remem- 
ber that  the  worship  of  God  was  never  understood  to 
consist  in  such  outward  services,  which  were  only  ne- 
cessary to  help  forward  a  people  as  yet  weak  and  rude 
in  knowledge  in  the  spiritual  worship  of  God.  A  dif- 
ference is  to  be  observed  in  this  respect  between  his 
people  under  the  Old  and  under  the  New  Testament ; 
for  now  that  Christ  has  appeared,  and  the  church  has 
reached  full  age,  it  were  only  to  bury  the  light  of  the 
gospel  should  we  introduce  the  shadows  of  a  departed 
dispensation.  From  this  it  appears  that  the  Papists, 
as  I  shall  have  occasion  to  show  elsewhere,  in  employ- 
ing instrumental  music  cannot  be  said  so  much  to  imi- 
tate the  practice  of  God's  ancient  people  as  to  ape  it  in 
a  senseless  and  absurd  manner,  exhibiting  a  silly  de- 
light in  that  worship  of  the  Old  Testament  which  was 
figurative,  and  terminated  with  the  gospel." 2 

"The  first  question,"  says  Ames  (Amesius)  in  his 
Church  Ceremonies*  "was,  If -the  primitive  church  had 

1  On  Ps.  lxxxi.  3.  2  On  Ps.  xcii.  1.  3  P.  404. 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  65 

such   ohaunting  idol-service,  as   is   in   our   cathedral 
churches.     The  Rejoinder  [Dr.  Burgess]    after  some 

words  spent  about  singing  (about  which  he  bringeth 
not  the  least  resemblance  of  that  in  question,  until  the 
fourth  age  [century]  after  Christ)  excepteth  first,  That 
organall  music  was  God's  ordinance  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  that  not  significant,  or  fcypicall;  and  there- 
fore is  sinfully  called  idol  service.  ...  To  this  I  say 
1  .  That  his  denying  of  organall  music  to  have  been 
significant  <>r  typicaU  is  without  reason,  and  against 
tin  current  of  our  divines  [N.  B.] ;  taken,  as  it  may 
seeme,  out  of  Bellarmine  (O/i  the  Mass,  B.  2,  C.  15), 
who  nseth  this  evasion  against  those  words  of  P.  Mar- 
tyr: 'Musical!  organs  perteyne  to  the  Jewish  cere- 
monie,  and  agree  no  more  to  us  than  circumcision.' 
Bo  that  we  may  neglect  it,  and  take  him  as  saying,  that 
nothing  which  was  ordained  in  the  Old  Testament  (no, 
not  sacrificing  of  beasts)  is  now  an  idol-service." 

Yet,  Bellarmin,  who  is  here  referred  to  by  Ames  as 
evading  the  judgment  of  Peter  Martyr,  himself  ex- 
368  the  same  judgment  in  another  place.1  "Jus- 
tinus,"  he  observes,  "saith  that  the  use  of  instruments 
was  granted  to  the  Jews  for  their  imperfection,  and  that 
therefore  such  instruments  have  no  place  in  the  church. 
We  Bellarmin  and  the  Catholics]  confess  indeed  that 
the  use  of  musical  instruments  agreeth  not  alike  with 
the  perfect  and  with  the  imperfect,  and  that  therefore 
tiny  began  hut  of  late  to  he  admitted  into  the  church." 
Bellarmin  lived  from  1542  to  1621. 

1  DeBon.  Operibnx^  I  Ah.  \.  Cap.  17.  We  appeal  from  Philip  drunk 
to  Philip  sober— from  Bellarmin  the  partisan  to  Bellarmin  the  theolo- 
gian. 


66  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

This  last  mentioned  opinion  of  the  great  polemic 
Cardinal  had  been  previously  expressed  by  Thomas 
Aquinas,  the  angelic  doctor  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
in  his  Summa  Theological  "Instruments  of  music," 
he  says,  "such  as  harps  and  psalteries,  the  church  does 
not  adopt  for  divine  praises,  lest  it  should  seem  to  Ju- 
daize."  "  Instruments  of  this  sort  more  move  the  mind 
to  delight,  than  form  internally  a  good  disposition.  Un- 
der the  Old  Testament,  however,  there  was  some  utility 
in  such  instruments,  both  because  the  people  were  more 
hard  and  carnal,  and  needed  to  be  stirred  up  by  instru- 
ments of  this  kind  as  by  promises  of  earthly  good,  and 
also  because  material  instruments  of  this  sort  figured 
something." 

"It  is  evident,"  says  Zwingle,2  "  that  that  same  eccle- 
siastical chanting  and  roaring  in  our  temples  (scarce 
also  understood  of  the  priests  themselves)  is  a  most 
foolish  and  vain  abuse,  and  a  most  pernicious  let  to 
piety.  In  the  solemn  worship  of  God,  I  do  not  judge 
it  more  suitable  than  if  we  should  recall  the  incense, 
tapers  and  other  shadows  of  the  law  into  use.  I  say 
again,  to  go  beyond  what  we  are  taught  is  most  wicked 
pervicacity." 

Voetius,  in  his  great  work,  the  Ecclesiastical  Polity \ 
elaborately  argues  against  the  use  of  instrumental  music 
in-  the  Christian  church,  and  among  the  arguments 
which  he  advances  employs  this :  "  Because  it  savors 
of  Judaism,  or  a  worship  suited  to  a  childish  condition 
under  the  Old  Testament  economy;  and  there  might 
with  equal  justice  be  introduced  into  the  churches  of 

1 II.  ii.  2,  xci.,  A.  ii.,  4,  etconclusio:  Tom.  iv.,  Ratlsbonce,  1884,  p.  646. 
2  Act.  Disp.  ii.  p.  106,  quoted  by  Ames. 


! 


AKor.MKNT  PROM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  67 

the  New  Testament  the  bells  of  Aaron,  the  silver  trum- 
pets of  the  priests,  the  horns  of  the  Jubilee,  harps, 
psalteries  and  cymbals,  with  Levitical  singers,  and  so 
the  whole  cultus  of  that  economy,  or  the  beggarly  ele- 
ments of  tin1  world,  according  to  the  words  of  the  apos- 
tle in  the  fourth  chapter  of  Galatians."1 

Buicer,  in  his  Thesaurus*  argues  at  length  to  vindi- 
cate Clement  of  Alexandria  from  the  representation 
that  he  favored  the  use  of  instruments  in  the  church, 
and  to  show  that  he  and  Isidore  of  Pelusium  regarded 
the  instrumental  music  of  the  Old  Testament  as  typical 
of  the  joyful  praise  of  the  New  Testament  church  for 
the  rich  benefits  of  an  accomplished  redemption.  He 
a  canon  of  one  of  the  Councils  of  Carthage  to  this 
effect :  "  On  the  Lord's  day  let  all  instruments  of  music 
be  silenced  ;"'  and  remarks  that  hut  few  in  his  own  time 
favored  the  use  of  instruments  in  the  church. 

orge  Gillespie,  in  his  Assertion  of  ike  Government 
of  the  ( '/>  urch  <>f  Scotland, 3  says :  "  The  Jewish  Church, 
Dot  as  it  was  a  church  hut  as  it  was  Jewish,  had  an 
Hij^h  Priest,  typifying  our  great  Hi<j;h  Priest,  Jesus 
Christ.  As  it  was  Jewish,  it  had  musicians  to  play 
upon  harps,  psalteries,  cymbals  and  other  musical  in- 
struments in  the  tempi*'."* 

David  Calderwood,  the  author  of  the  celebrated  work, 
AUare  Dama&cenum  (Altar  of  Damascus)  and  of  a 
valuable  History  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  says  in 
his  hook.    /'/><    Pastor  "ml  tin'  Prelate-.*  "The  Pastor 

1  Lib.  ii.,  Tract,  ii.,  Cap.  iii.,  Tom.  i.,  Kmsbel,  p.  554. 

ward,  Organ. 
<'h.  iii..  j,.  13;  J%  m's Armory,  Vol.  i. 

4  V.  1.  Pre$byterian'$  Armory,  Vol.  iii. 


68  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

loveth  no  music  in  the  house  of  God  but  such  as  edi- 
fieth,  and  stoppeth  his  ears  at  instrumental  music,  as 
serving  for  the  pedagogy  of  the  untoward  Jews  under 
the  law,  and  being  figurative  of  that  spiritual  joy  where- 
unto  our  hearts  should  be  opened  under  the  gospel. 
The  Prelate  loveth  carnal  and  curious  singing  to  the 
ear,  more  than  the  spiritual  melody  of  the  gospel,  and 
therefore  would  have  antiphony  and  organs  in  the 
cathedral  kirks,  upon  no  greater  reason  than  other 
sJiadows  of  the  law  of  Moses ;  or  lesser  instruments,  as 
lutes,  citherns  and  pipes  might  be  [to  be]  used  in  other 
kirks." 

"As  good  an  argument,"  remarks  Dr.  James  Begg, 
"  can  be  made  for  the  use  of  incense,  priests,  sacrifices, 
indeed  of  the  whole  temple  system,  as  for  the  use  of 
instrumental  music  in  Christian  worship."1 

Dr.  Killen,  in  his  Ancient  Church,  says:2  "As  the 
sacrifices,  offerings  and  other  observances  of  the  tem- 
ple, as  well  as  the  priests,  the  vestments,  and  even  the 
building  itself,  had  an  emblematic  meaning,  it  would 
appear  that  the  singing,  intermingled  with  the  music 
of  various  instruments  of  sound,  was  also  typical  and 
ceremonial." 

In  a  striking  argument  against  the  use  of  instrumen- 
tal music  in  the  worship  of  the  Christian  church,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Alexander  Blaikie,  an  American  minister, 
says:3  "These  [musical  instruments]  continued  in  the 
temple -service  of  Jehovah  so  long  as  '  the  first  taber- 
nacle was  yet  standing,'  and  no  longer;  for  so  soon  as 

1  On  the  Use  of  Organs,  etc.,  p.  18.  -  P.  216. 

3  The  Organ  and  other  Musical  Instruments,  as  noted  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures. 

i 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  69 

tin1  way  into  the  holiest  of  all  was  made  manifest  (Heb. 
i\.  8,)  the  bondage  (beloved  by  every  Jew)  of  these 
'weak  and  beggarly  elements'  was  in  the  worship  of 
God  forever  done  away.  He,  'in  whom  dwelleth  all 
the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily,'  took  the  whole 
'hand-writing  of  ordinances  out  of  the  way,  nailing  it 
to  his  Cross.'  Instruments  of  music  in  the  worship  of 
God  had  there  fulfilled  their  mission,  in  common  with 
the  blood  of  bulls,  of  goats,  and  the  ashes  of  heifers, 
and  they  finished  their  course  when  Jesus  died.  No 
blast  of  ' rams'-liorns,'  nor  other  'things  without  life- 
giving  sound '  had  any  longer  a  place  with  acceptance 
in  the  worship  of  Jehovah.  The  ceremonial,  sensual, 
and  ritual  in  his  worship  there  forever  ceased  to  be 
appointed  by  and  acceptable  to  God,  when  he  who 
'spake  as  never  man  spake'  exclaimed,  'It  is  fin- 
ished.'" 

In  his  reply  to  the  statement  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ritchie, 
submitted  to  the  Presbytery  of  Glasgow'  in  favor  of  the 
introduction  of  an  organ  in  St.  Andrew's  church,  Glas- 
gow (the  case  was  decided  in  May,  1808,  adversely  to 
Dr.  Ritchie),  the  Rev.  Dr.  Porteous  remarks:  "It  seems 
to  be  acknowledged  by  all  descriptions  of  Christians, 
that  among  the  Hebrews  instrumental  music  in  the 
public  worship  of  God  was  essentially  connected  with 
sacrifice — with  the  morning  and  evening  sacrifice,  and 
with  the  sacrifices  to  be  offered  up  on  great  and  solemn 
days.  But  as  all  the  sacrifices  of  the  Hebrews  were 
completely  abolished  by  the  death  of  our  blessed  Re- 
deemer, so  instrumental  music  .  .  .  being  so  intimately 
connected  with  sacrifice,  and  belonging  to  a  service 
which  was  ceremonial  and  typical,  must  be  abolished 

7 


70  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

with  that  service ;  and  we  can  have  no  warrant  to  re- 
call it  into  the  Christian  church,  any  more  than  we 
have  to  nse  other  abrogated  rites  of  the  Jewish  religion, 
of  which  it  is  a  part." ' 

That  able  and  judicious  theologian,  Dr.  Ridgley, 
speaks  very  expressly,  not  only  of  the  typical  nature  of 
the  instrumental  music  employed  in  the  temple,  but  of 
that  which  it  was  designed  to  typify.  He  says:  "It 
may  be  observed,  that  how  much  soever  the  use  of 
musical  instruments  which  were  in  this  worship  may 
be  concluded  to  be  particularly  adapted  to  that  dispen- 
sation, as  they  were  typical  of  that  spiritual  joy  which 
the  gospel  church  should  obtain  by  Christ ;  yet  the  or- 
dinance of  singing  remains  a  duty,  as  founded  on  the 
moral  law."2 

To  the  objection  that  "those  arguments  that  have 
been  taken  from  the  practice  of  the  Old  Testament 
church  to  prove  singing  an  ordinance  may,  with  equal 
justice,  be  alleged  to  prove  the  use  of  instrumental 
music,"  he  replies:  "Though  we  often  read  of  music 
being  used  in  singing  the  praises  of  God  under  the  Old 
Testament,  yet  if  what  has  been  said  concerning  its 
being  a  type  of  that  spiritual  joy  which  attends  our 
praising  God  for  the  privilege  of  that  redemption  which 
Christ  has  purchased  be  true,  then  this  objection  will 

1  Dr.  Candlish,  The  Organ  Question,  pp.  87,  88.  It  may  be  said  in 
answer,  that  on  the  same  ground  singing  ought  to  be  abolished.  But, 
first,  singing  was  not  as  peculiarly  connected  with  sacrifice  as  was  the 
blowing  of  trumpets ;  secondly,  that  the  use  of  instruments  was  peculiar 
to  the  temple  service,  whereas  singing  was  not.  The  argument  only 
holds  in  regard  to  the  specific  and  temporary  elements  of  worship,  not 
to  the  generic  and  permanent. 

2  Body  of  Divinity,  Quest.  CLIV.,  VoL  iv.,  p.  82,  Philadelphia,  1815. 


! 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  71 

appeal  to  have  no  weight,  since  this  type  is  abolished 
together  with  the  ceremonial  law."1 

I  have  heard  the  view  maintained  thai  the  reason 
why  this  music  was  not  in  use  in  the  synagogue  wor- 
ship was  that  it  would  have  involved  a  violation  of  the 
law  commanding  the  Sabbath  day  to  be  kept  holy;  that 
it  required  a  species  of  labor  which,  as  it  was  not  ne- 
•  v,  would  have  violated  the  commandment  enjoin- 
ing abstinence  from  all  unnecessary  work  on  that  day. 
And  in  support  of  this  view,  it  is  claimed  that  instru- 
mental music  was  permitted,  and  was  actually  employed 
on  the  week-days  between  the  Sabbaths.  In  reply  I 
would  say : 

In  the  first  place,  the  allegation,  that  instrumental 
music  was  used  on  week-days  in  the  synagogue  before 
the  Christian  dispensation  began,  needs  to  be  con- 
tinued. The  fact  that  such  a  practice  now  exists,  or 
xisted  for  a  long  time,  proves  nothing.  The  ra- 
tionalism and  indifferentism  of  many  of  the  modern 
Jews  would  be  sufficient  to  account  for  the  fact,  just  as 
that  heterodox  temper  affords  an  explanation  of  the 
employment  of  organs  in  the  synagogue-worship  even 
on  the  Sabbath. 

In  the  second  place,  if  the  allegation  were  true,  it 
would  establish  nothing  in  opposition  to  the  view 
maintained  in  this  discussion.  For,  during  the  Mosaic 
dispensation,  the  Jews  ever  manifested  a  tendency  to 
disobey  divine  commands  and  contemn  divine  ordi- 
nances, in  the  assertion  of  their  own  will  and  the  grati- 
fication of  their  own  taste  -a  disposition  which  fre- 
quently incited  them  to  flagrantly  idolatrous  worship. 

1  Ibid.,  pp.  87,  88. 


72  INSTKUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

And  although,  after  the  Babylonian  captivity  open 
idolatry  ceased,  the  same  disposition  continued,  and 
called  forth  the  rebuke  administered  by  Christ  to  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees  for  making  void  the  command- 
ments of  God  by  human  traditions.  The  oral  law  over- 
lay the  written,  tradition  superseded  the  Bible. 

Furthermore,  it  may  be  questioned,  whether  this  re- 
puted worship  of  small  numbers  of  persons  in  a  syna- 
gogue on  the  days  of  the  week  could  be  put  into  the 
category  of  solemn,  formal,  public  worship,  such  as  that 
which  obtained  on  Sabbath  days. 

In  the  third  place,  it  is  admitted  that  instrumental 
music  was  not  employed  in  the  synagogue  on  the  Sab- 
bath. The  reason  assigned  is,  that  it  would  have  in- 
fringed the  law  of  the  Sabbath  requiring  a  cessation  of 
all  unnecessary  work.  Now,  the  question  arises,  how, 
in  view  of  that  law,  it  was  employed  in  the  temple  on 
the  Sabbath  ?  The  answer  given  is,  that  God,  in  that 
case,  by  his  authority  relaxed  the  rigor  of  the  fourth 
commandment,  and  warranted  work  which  otherwise 
would  have  been  unjustifiable.     I  rejoin  : 

A  relaxation  of  the  Sabbatic  law,  in  favor  of  the 
temple-services,  is  not  granted.  Whatever  was  neces- 
sary or  proper,  according  to  God's  appointment,  in  or- 
der to  the  observance  of  his  worship,  was  provided  for 
in  that  law.  It  was  not  requisite  for  God  to  dispense 
with  his  own  authority  to  secure  compliance  with  it. 

Further,  if,  according  to  the  supposition,  God  relaxed 
his  law  in  one  case,  the  question  is,  Why  did  he  not  re- 
lax it  in  the  other  ?  If  for  the  temple,  why  not  for  the 
synagogue  ?  The  same  authority  was  sufficient  for  the 
relaxation  in  the  latter  case  as  well  as  in  the  former. 


Ai;<;rMF.NT  PROM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  73 

But  this  hypothesis  of  a  relaxation  of  the  law  being 
discharged,  the  question  returns,  Why  was  not  instru- 
mental music  employed  on  the  Sabbath  in  the  syna- 

jue  as  well  as  in  the  temple  ?  The  answer  is,  Because 
God  did  not  so  command.  He  commanded  it  to  be 
usc.l  in  the  temple  ;  he  did  not,  as  he  might  have  done, 
command  it  to  be  used  in  the  synagogue.  Now,  why? 
There  must  be  an  adequate  reason  for  the  difference. 
What  was  it  ?  The  only  reply  which  appears  to  furnish 
a  solution  of  the  difficulty  is,  that  the  temple-worship 
was  typical,  that  of  the  synagogue  not.  The  employ- 
ment of  types  in  the  synagogue  would  have  contradicted 
the  very  idea  of  the  temple.  The  reason  of  the  singu- 
lar and  exceptional  existence  of  the  latter  was  that  it 
embraced  a  typical  service.  To  have  made  the  types 
common  would  therefore  have  subverted  the  temple. 

The  argument  may  be  made  still  clearer  by  testing 
it  upon  the  instance  of  sacrifices.  They  were  offered  at 
the  temple  on  the  Sabbath.  Why  were  they  not  offered 
in  the  synagogue  on  that  day?  Will  the  Jew  himself 
contend  that  the  reason  was  that  the  law  of  the  Sabbath 
would  have  been  violated?  He  himself  will  concede 
that  sacrifices,  as  typical,  could  only  have  been  offered 
at  the  temple.  If  he  deny,  he  denies  the  meaning  of 
and  the  genius  of  the  Jewish  religion.  So 
was  it  with  all  the  types,  including  instrumental  music. 
Would  he  say  that  sacrifices  were  permissible  in  the 
synagogue  on  other  than  Sabbath  days?  Would  he 
that  such  a  practice  ever  actually  obtained?  He 
must  find,  thru,  another  reason  why  sacrifices  were  not 
offered  in  the  synagogue  on  the  Sabbath,  than  the  in- 
fraction of  the  Sabbatic  law  which  they  would  have  in- 


74  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

volved.  The  same  argument  holds  good  in  relation  to 
instrumental  music.  But  the  question  here  is  with  the 
Jew,  and  the  attempt  to  convince  him,  without  the  con- 
currence of  almighty  grace,  would  be  as  operative  as  an 
effort  to  reduce  Gibraltar  with  an  argument. 

It  has  been  proved  by  this  special  line  of  argument 
that,  in  consequence  of  the  absence  of  a  divine  com- 
mand justifying  its  use,  instrumental  music  was  not  in- 
cluded in  the  syn agogue -worship ;  that,  as  Christ,  the 
procurer  of  redemption,  was  promised,  so  also  the  Holy 
Spirit,  the  applier  of  redemption,  was  promised,  in  the 
Old  Testament — that  a  whole  salvation  by  blood  and 
by  water  was  revealed  in  its  didactic  statements,  its 
prophecies,  and  its  types  ;  that  the  elements  in  the  tem- 
ple service,  which  were  not  embraced  in  that  of  the 
synagogue,  were  typical ;  that  some  of  these  were  typi- 
cal of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  the  effects  to  be  produced 
by  his  grace  in  New  Testament  times ;  and  that  among 
them  instrumental  music  must  be  classed.  From  all 
this  it  follows,  first,  that  to  bring  over  into  the  new  dis- 
pensation the  features  of  worship  which  belonged  to 
the  temple,  and  not  to  the  synagogue,  is  more  unwar- 
rantable in  us  than  the  importation  of  the  distinctive 
elements  of  the  temple-worship  into  the  synagogue 
would  have  been  to  the  Jews;  secondly,  that,  as  the 
types  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  temple-service  are  ful- 
filled in  his  application  to  believers  of  the  benefits  of  a 
purchased  redemption,  to  retain  them  in  the  Christian 
church  is  as  much  to  dishonor  him  as  to  retain  bloody 
sacrifices  would  dishonor  Christ;  and  thirdly,  that 
therefore,  as  instrumental  music  in  the  temple-worship 
was  one  of  those  types,  its  employment  in  the  public 


Al;<;iM].\T  FROM  Tin:  old  TESTAMENT.  75 

services  of  the  Christian  olmrch  is  at  once  tm warrant- 
able ami  dishonoring  to  the  ever-blessed  Spirit. 

4.  To  all  this  argument  derived  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment it  is  triumphantly  objected  that  the  Psalms  exhort 
all  men  to  praise  God  with  instruments  of  music,  and 
that  they  were  designed  to  be  sung  in  every  age  of 
the  church.     The  objection  is  as  futile  as  it  is  popular. 

In  the  first  place,  why  did  not  David,  who  was  one 
of  the  principal  authors  of  the  Psalms,  introduce  at  an 
earlier  period  than  he  did  instrumental  music  into  the 
tabernacle  worship?  The  reply  is,  that  he  was  not  di- 
vinely commanded  to  do  it.  Why  did  not  Moses,  who 
was  an  accomplished  psalmist,  and  who  heard  the 
thrilling  sound  of  timbrels  in  the  great  rejoicing  over 
the  discomfited  host  of  Pharaoh  on  the  shore  of  the 
Bed  Sea,  incorporate  this  kind  of  music  as  an  accom- 
paniment of  singing  into  that  worship?  The  answer 
is,  Because  he  had  no  divine  warrant  for  such  a  mea- 
sure. We  have  seen  that  David,  by  divine  command, 
prepared  instruments  of  music,  and  directed  them  to  be 
used  in  the  temple  when  that  edifice  should  be  erected. 
He  would  have  had  no  right  to  take  that  step  had  he 
not  been  inspired  and  commanded  to  do  so  by  God, 
who  alone  possessed  the  prerogative  to  dictate  the  mode 
in  which  he  should  be  worshipped.  It  deserves  in- 
quiry, too,  whether  any  of  the  Psalms  which  are 
ascribed  to  David,  in  which  musical  instruments  are 
mentioned,  have  any  reference  to  their  employment  in 
the  public  worship  '>f  God's  house.  Let  those  who  arc 
wont  to  plead  the  authority  of  his  name  examine  the 
57th,  108th,  and  144th  Psalms,  and  discover  in  them, 
if  they  can,  anything  more  than  references  to  his  indi- 


76  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

vidual  worship.  The  81st  is  attributed  to  Asaph,  and 
may  well  have  been  composed  after  the  dedication  of 
the  temple. 

It  may  also  be  observed,  while  this  Psalm  is  under 
notice,  that  the  argument  derived  from  it  in  favor  of  the 
early  use  of  musical  instruments  by  the  Israelites  has 
no  value.  The  words  are :  "  Take  a  psalm,  and  bring 
hither  the  timbrel,  the  pleasant  harp  with  the  psaltery. 
Blow  up  the  trumpet  in  the  new  moon,  in  the  time  ap- 
pointed, on  our  solemn  feast  day.  For  this  was  a 
statute  for  Israel,  and  a  law  of  the  God  of  Jacob.  This 
he  ordained  in  Joseph  for  a  testimony,  when  he  went 
out  through  the  land  of  Egypt."  The  statute,  law, 
ordinance  here  mentioned  manifestly  relates  especially 
to  the  feast  of  the  Passover,  which,  when  it  occurred  at 
the  new  moon,  was  attended  with  the  solemn  blowing 
of  trumpets,  as  the  parallel  passage  shows :  Ex.  xiii.  8, 
9,  14-16.  If  this  is  not  deemed  satisfactory,  let  the 
statute,  law  or  ordinance  be  pointed  out  which  enforced 
the  use  of  timbrels,  harps  and  psalteries  upon  the 
Israelites  in  connection  with  their  exodus  from  Egypt. 
Until  that  is  done  loose  assertion  will  avail  nothing. 

The  ninety-second  Psalm  is  auonymous,  and  refers 
to  individual  worship.  The  thirty-third,  which  is 
anonymous,  does  not  necessarily  relate  to  public  wor- 
ship. The  ninety-eighth,  one  hundred  and  forty-ninth 
and  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  are  also  anonymous,  and, 
while -they  summon  all  creatures  to  praise  God,  cannot 
be  proved  to  have  reference  to  the  public  worship  of 
his  house.  But  if  they  do,  so  far  as  they  inculcate  the 
use  of  instruments  they  relate  to  a  ceremonial  and  typi- 
cal worship. 


ARGUMENT  PROM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  77 

Unless,  therefore,  the  temple-worship,  in  which  alone 
that  sort  of  music  as  an  accompaniment  of  singing  in 
public  worship  was  divinely  authorized,  can  be  legiti- 
mately brought  over  into  the  New  Testament  dispensa- 
tion, the  appeal  to  the  Psalms  in  favor  of  instruments 
in  the  public  worship  of  the  Christian  church  is  desti- 
tute of  the  slightest  force. 

In  the  second  place,  the  argument  from  the  Psalms 
proves  too  much,  and  is  therefore  worthless.  In  the 
fifty-first  Psalm,  which  has  been  in  all  ages  since  its 
incorporation  into  the  sacred  canon  a  vehicle  for  ex- 
ring  the  penitential  confessions  of  God's  people, 
David  prays:  ''Purge  me  with  hyssop,  and  I  shall  be 
clean ;  wash  me,  and  I  shall  be  whiter  than  snow." 
The  hyssop  dipped  into  the  blood  of  the  paschal  lamb 
was  used  to  sprinkle  the  lintels  and  door-posts  of  the 
[sraelites,  as  a  token  of  their  salvation  from  the  doom 
which  impended  over  the  first-born  of  Egypt,  and  as  a 
type  of  a  greater  deliverance  to  be  afterwards  accom- 
plished by  (rod's  appointed  Lamb.  (Ex.  xii.  21-24.) 
It  was  also  employed  in  connection  with  the  cleansing 
of  the  leper  i  Lev.  xiv.),  and  with  the  burnt-sacrifice  of 
the  red  heifer  without  the  camp.  (Num.  xix.)  In  the 
fiftieth  Psalm,  the  Lord,  addressing  Israel,  says:  "I 
will  not  reprove  thee  for  thy  sacrifices  or  thy  burnt-of- 
ferings to  have  been  continually  before  me;"  and  in 
the  conclusion  of  the  fifty-first,  David,  after  praying 
that  (rod  would  do  good  in  his  good  pleasure  to  Zion, 
and  build  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  exclaims:  "Then 
shalt  thou  be  pleased  with  the  sacrifices  of  righteous- 
with  burnt-offering  and  whole  burnt-offering: 
then  shall  they  offer  bullocks  upon  thine  altar."    While 


78  INSTKUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHUECH  WORSHIP. 

these  passages  partly  refer  to  individual  cleansing,  it 
cannot  be  denied  that  they,  far  more  clearly  than  those 
cited  in  favor  of  instrumental  music,  relate  to  the  pub- 
lic worship  of  God's  house.  If,  now,  the  argument 
holds  good,  which  is  derived  from  the  Psalms  in  sup- 
port of  the  use  of  instruments  in  the  public  worship  of 
the  Christian  church,  it  equally  holds  in  justification  of 
the  offering  of  bloody  sacrifices  in  that  worship.  The 
absurdity  of  the  consequence  completely  refutes  the 
argument. 

The  only  way  in  which  I  can  conceive  that  an  attempt 
may  be  made  to  evade  the  point  of  this  fatal  considera- 
tion, is  by  maintaining  that  the  sacrifices  of  the  ancient 
worship  were  types  which  have  been  abolished  in  con- 
sequence of  their  fulfilment  by  Christ,  the  great  expia- 
tory sacrifice,  but  that  instrumental  music  was  not  typi- 
cal, and  therefore  remains.  One  can  now  see  why  the 
preceding  argument,  to  prove  the  typical  character  of 
instrumental  music  as  a  part  of  the  temple  worship, 
was  so  elaborately  pressed,  and  sustained  by  so  long  a 
catena  of  authorities.  If  that  argument  was  conclusive, 
this  method  of  escape  is  nothing  worth.  Only  what 
was  generic,  essential,  permanent  in  the  worship  of 
God's  ancient  people  passes  over  into  the  new  economy ; 
what  was  specific,  accidental,  temporary  has  vanished 
with  the  old;  and  it  has  been  shown  by  conclusive 
proofs  that  to  the  latter  kind  of  worship  instrumental 
music  must  be  assigned.  It  was  a  temporary  environ- 
ment by  which  it  pleased  God  to  surround  the  singing 
of  his  praise,  and  as  typical  it  has  been  stripped  away 
by  its  fulfilment  in  the  copious  effusion  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  the  glorious  effects  of  his  grace  in  applying 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  79 

the  accomplished  atonement  of  Christ.  We  are  Chris- 
tians. Jews  we  art',  if  believers,  "inwardly/'  as  Paul 
declares;  Jews  as  we  are  the  spiritual  seed  of  Abraham, 
and  partake  of  his  faith,  as  we  possess,  at  least  are  en- 
titled to  possess,  and  possess  more  fully,  the  benefits 
of  that  unchanging  covenant  of  grace1  which,  in  its  essen- 
tial provisions  was  administered  in  the  Patriarchal  and 
Mosaic  dispensations,  is  administered  in  the  Christian, 
and  will,  in  the  Heavenly,  be  administered  "through- 
out all  ages,  world  without  end."  Jews  we  are  not,  as 
says  the  same  apostle,  "  outwardly  :"  Jews,  not  by  carnal 

nt  or  national  lineage,  not  as  bound  by  the  posi- 
tive enactments  of  the  ceremonial  law,  not  as  subject  to 

ccidental  provisions,  the  specific,  peculiar,  typical 
elements  which  constituted  the  temporary  shell  of  that 
immutable  covenant. 

This  argument  from  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures 
proves  vastly  too  much.  Those  who  have  most  ur- 
gently insisted  upon  it  have  acted  with  logical  consis- 
tency in  importing  priests  into  the  New  Testament 
church :  and  as  priests  suppose  sacrifices,  lo,  the  sacri- 
fice of  the  Mass!  Instrumental  music  may  not  seem  to 
stand  upon  the  same  foot  with  that  monstrous  corrup- 
tion, but  the  principle  which  underlies  both  is  the  same  ; 
and  thai  whether  we  are  content  with  a  single  instru- 
ment, the  cornet,  the  bass-viol,  the  organ,  or  go  on  by 
a  natural  development  to  the  orchestral  art,  the  cathe- 
dral pomps,  and  all  the  spectacular  magnificence  of 
Rome.  We  are  Christians,  and  we  are  untrue  to  Christ 
and  to  the  Spirit  of  grace   when  we  resort  to  the  abro- 

I  and  forbidden  ritual  of  the  Jewish  temple. 


III. 

Argument  from  the  New  Testament. 

We  have  seen,  by  an  examination  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment Scriptures,  that  throughout  the  Mosaic  dispensa- 
tion this  great  principle  exerted  a  controlling  influence : 
That  whatsoever  God  commands  is  to  be  observed,  and 
that  whatsoever  he  does  not  command  is  forbidden,  so 
far  as  the  public  worship  of  his  house  is  concerned. 
Under  the  operation  of  that  principle,  instrumental 
music,  as  an  accompaniment  of  the  singing  of  praise, 
was  excluded  from  the  tabernacle  during  almost  the 
whole  period  of  its  existence,  and  from  the  synagogue, 
and  was  introduced  into  the  temple  in  consequence  of 
a  divine  warrant  expressly  furnished  to  that  effect. 
We  come  now  to  the  consideration  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  the  question  is,  Has  Christ,  the  King  of  the 
church,  prohibited  the  introduction  of  instrumental 
music  into  its  jmblic  worship?  That  he  has  will  be 
maintained  on  the  following  grounds  : 

1.  What  was  peculiar  and  distinctive  in  the  worship 
of  the  Jewish  temple  has  been  abolished. 

This  has  been  the  general  view  of  the  Christian 
church,  but  it  has  been  ridiculed  by  infidels  and  op- 
posed, in  part,  by  some  prelatists :  ridiculed  by  the  for- 
mer because  it  supposes  a  change  of  divine  enactments 
and  infers  the  admission   of  God's  mutability ; l    op- 

1  The  answer  to  this  is  found  in  the  obvious  distinction  between 
moral  and  positive  laws — the  former  being  immutable,  the  latter  not. 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  81 

posed  by  the  latter,  because  they  seek  justification  for 
introducing  into  the  Christian  church  a  class  of  officers 
and  as  order  of  worship  which  belonged  alone  to  the 
Jewish  temple.  It  is  somewhat  curious  that  this  ques- 
tion is  but  rarelv  discussed  in  systems  of  theology  and 
histories  of  the  church.  It  will,  therefore,  not  be  gra- 
tuitous to  state  some  of  the  reasons  which  justify  the 
view,  that  what  was  peculiar  to  the  temple-worship  has 
been  abrogated.     This  may  be  inferred  from — 

(1.)  The  nature  of  the  case.  It  is  conceded  that 
some  of  the  elements  of  the  temple-service  were  typi- 
cal. While  the  Jew  denies  that  they  have  met  their 
fulfilment  in  their  corresponding  antitypes,  the  Chris- 
tian affirms.  The  latter,  consequently,  must  hold  that 
the  types,  not  as  objects  of  study,  but  as  elements  of 
religion  to  be  observed,  have  passed  away.  The  anti- 
types, as  substantial  realities  approaching  in  the  future, 
cast  their  shadows  before  them.  They  were  dimly  out- 
lined in  those  shadows.  When,  in  the  process  of  time, 
the  substances  themselves  were  reached,  what  need  was 
there  for  further  following  the  guidance  of  the  shadows  ? 
To  take  another  view,  indicated  also  by  Scripture,  the 
types  were  prophecies  and  promises  presented  con- 
cretely, and  not  merely  in  words,  to  the  ancient  wor- 
shipper. They  were  real  manifestations,  in  the  phe- 
nomenal sphere,  of  the  purpose  of  redemption  and  of 
the  sure  Word  of  prophecy.  But  the  things  prophesied 
and  promised  have  been  actually  accomplished,  and 
are  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Christian  worshipper. 
History  in  part,  and  in  part  a  continuous  present  ex- 
perience, have  taken  the  place  of  prophecy  and  pro- 
mise. Once  more,  the  peculiar  elements  of  the  temple- 
8 


82  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHUKCH  WORSHIP. 

service  were  figurative  representations  of  future  reali- 
ties, of  realities  not  known  by  experience.  What  need 
of  the  figures  when  the  real  objects  figured  are  experi- 
mentally known  ?  A  surveyor's  plat  or  a  topographi- 
cal map  is  of  utmost  value  to  one  who  expects  to  pur- 
chase, but  cannot  inspect,  a  tract  of  land.  When  he  is 
in  actual  possession  of  it,  he  gazes  upon  it  with  his 
own  eyes,  and  the  map  is  no  longer  a  necessity.  A 
likeness  of  a  person  whom  one  has  never  seen,  but  de- 
sires to  see,  is  precious  until  actual  acquaintance  en- 
sues. Why  study  the  picture  when  one  looks  into  the 
face  of  the  person  himself?  From  the  nature  of  the 
case,  then,  the  distinctive  elements  of  the  temple-wor- 
ship have  passed  away.  They  have  expired  by  their 
own  limitation. 

(2.)  The  statements  of  Scripture.  Let  us  follow  the 
order  of  the  New  Testament  writings,  and  select  some 
of  the  testimonies  which  they  furnish. 

First,  We  encounter  the  song  of  Simeon,  who,  when 
he  had  taken  the  infant  Jesus  into  his  arms,  "blessed 
God,  and  said,  Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  de- 
part in  peace,  according  to  thy  word:  for  mine  eyes 
have  seen  thy  salvation ; "  and  the  words  of  the  pro- 
phetess Anna,  who  "  gave  thanks  likewise  unto  the 
Lord,  and  spake  of  him  [Jesus]  to  all  them  .that  looked 
for  redemption  in  Jerusalem." 

Secondly,  The  Baptist,  pointing  to  Jesus  as  with  the 
index-finger  of  the  old  economy,  exclaimed,  "Behold, 
the  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world."  Look!  there  he  is,  God's  provided  and  ap- 
pointed Lamb,  the  great  atoning  sacrifice,  who  was 
typified  by  every  lamb  sacrificed  at  the  tabernacle  and 
the  temple. 


ARGUMENT  FKO.M  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  83 

Thirdly,  "  Philip  findeth  Nathanael,  and  saith  unto 
him,  We  have  found  him,  of  whom  Moses  in  the  law,  and 
the  Prophets,  did  write,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  son  of 
Joseph."  And  when  Nathanael,  convinced  of  his  Mes- 
siahship,  uttered  the  confession,  "Rabbi,  thou  art  the 
Son  of  (Jod;  thou  art  the  King  of  Israel,"  Jesus  re- 
ceived  the  confession  and  confirmed  the  testimony. 

Fourthly,  "After  that  John  was  put  in  prison,  Jesus 
came  into  Galilee,  preaching  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom 
oi  God,  and  saving,  The  time  is  fulfilled,  and  the  king- 
dom of  (lod  is  at  hand."  Again  he  said,  "Neither  do 
men  put  new  wine  into  old  bottles :  else  the  bottles 
break,  and  the  wine  runneth  out,  and  the  bottles  perish  : 
but  they  put  new  wine  into  new  bottles,  and  both  are 
rved;"  by  which  he  evidently  taught  that,  as  the 
new  dispensation  was  about  to  begin,  its  spirit  would 
transcend  the  forms  of  the  old,  and  necessitate  their 
al  >r<  igation.  In  his  dying  words,  "  It  is  finished,"  Jesus, 
in  actually  fulfilling  the  types  of  the  old  economy,  pro- 
nounced them  abolished.  His  whole  mediatorial  work 
on  earth  was  completed,  and  all  the  figures  of  it  were 
superseded  by  the  reality.  After  his  resurrection,  in 
rebuke  of  the  unbelief  of  his  disciples,  he  said,  "0  fools 
and  slow  of  heart  to  believe  all  that  the  prophets  have 
spoken  :  ought  not  Christ  to  have  suffered  these  things, 
and  to  enter  into  his  glory?  And  beginning  at  Moses, 
and  all  the  prophets,  he  expounded  unto  them  in  all 
the  Scriptures  the  things  concerning  himself." 

There  are  three  aspects  iii  which  the  necessity  which 
Christ  here  affirms  for  his  suit',  rings  and  glorification 
may  be  regarded.  First,  there  was  an  absolute  neces- 
sity,  on   the   supposition   of   a  free  determination   on 


84  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

God's  part  to  save  sinners,  that  a  competent  atonement 
for  their  guilt  should  ground  their  reconciliation  to 
him,  consistently  with  his  infinite  perfections — his  jus- 
tice, truth  and  holiness.  Secondly,  there  was  a  neces- 
sity that  the  legal  substitute  who  would  die  for  the  ex- 
piation of  guilt  should  be  a  priest,  not  only  to  evince 
with  perfect  clearness  his  own  free  and  cheerful  suscep- 
tion  of  the  great  undertaking,  and  to  be  qualified  by 
actual  experience  to  sympathize  with  his  people  in  suf- 
fering, but  also  to  provide,  by  the  offices  of  an  infinitely 
meritorious  Minister  of  worship,  for  the  access  of  sin- 
ners to  God,  and  the  acceptance  of  their  prayers  and 
their  praises.  But,  thirdly,  there  was  a  necessity  for  a 
fulfilment  of  the  types  and  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  it  was 
chiefly  upon  this  point  that  the  Lord  Jesus  insisted,  in 
his  talk  with  the  disciples  on  their  way  to  Emmaus. 
The  legal  and  ceremonial  institutions  of  Moses  and  the 
promissory  writings  of  the  prophets  he  expounded  as 
having  had  reference  to  himself,  and  therefore  virtually 
declared  that  they  had  all  been  fulfilled,  so  far  as  they 
related  to  his  sufferings  and  atoning  work,  or  were  in 
process  of  fulfilment,  so  far  as  they  pointed  to  his  en- 
trance into  his  glory — his  ascension  to  heaven,  his  ses- 
sion on  the  throne,  his  intercession,  his  communication 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  his  second  coming  to  complete 
the  redemption  of  his  people  and  to  judge  the  quick 
and  the  dead.  But  a  promise  fulfilled  ceases  to  be  a 
promise,  and  a  type  realized  in  its  antitype  is  a  type  no 
more :  its  prospective  office  necessarily  expires.  It  is 
evident,  therefore,  from  the  discourse  ascribed  by  the 
evangelist  to  our  Lord,  that  the  peculiar  and  distinctive 


ABGUMENT  FROM  Till:  NEW  TESTAMENT.  85 

elements  of  the  temple-worship,  so  far  as  they  figured 
a  future  atonement  by  priestly  sacrifice,  had  been  abro- 
gated,  and  so  far  as  they  represented  a  future  effusion 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  soon  would  be  abrogated. 

Fifthly,  On  the  day  of  Pentecost  Peter  declared  that 
the  wonderful  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  which  was 
then  experienced  was  in  fulfilment  of  a  prophecy  of 
Joel.  That  fulfilment  the  apostolic  preacher  explained 
by  saying:  ''This  Jesus  hath  God  raised  up,  whereof 
We  are  all  witnesses.  Therefore  being  by  the  right 
hand  of  God  exalted,  and  having  received  of  the  Father 
the  promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  hath  shed  forth  this 
which  ye  do  now  see  and  hear."  Now,  not  only  were 
the  death  and  glorification  of  Christ  conjoined  with  the 
efi'usion  of  the  Spirit  in  the  prophecies,  but  they  were 
also  associated  with  each  other  in  the  temple  types. 
Both  classes  of  prospective  representations,  the  pro- 
phetical and  the  typical,  in  this  their  twofold  signifi- 
cance, were  fulfilled.  We  have  seen,  moreover,  that 
the  feast  of  Pentecost,  which  was  a  constituent  element 
of  the  temple-services,  was  typical  of  the  copious  effu- 
sion of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  it  was  precisely  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost  that  it  met  a  conspicuous  fulfilment.  What 
are  we  to  conclude,  but  that  as  the  types  of  Christ's 
death  and  exaltation  had  necessarily  expired,  the  same 
was  time  of  those  which  pre-figured  the  outpouring  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  ?  In  answer  to  this  it  may  be  said 
that  the  prophecy  cited  by  Peter  had  only  a  partial, 
however  glorious,  fulfilment  on  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
and  continues  t<>  be  a  prediction  of  copious  effusions  of 
the  Spirit,  and  so  the  teniple-srivicts  which  bear  upon 
the  same  continuous  impartation  of  his  grace  may  be 


86  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  'WORSHIP. 

legitimately  employed  until  the  consummation  shall  be 
reached.  What  is  true  of  the  prophecies  may  be  true 
of  the  types. 

But,  in  the  first  place,  the  same  would  hold  good 
with  reference  to  the  continued  prosecution  of  Christ's 
intercessory  work  in  heaven.  Now,  that  was  certainly 
typified  by  the  high-priestly  offering  of  incense  in  the 
Jewish  holy  of  holies.  The  argument,  if  worth  any- 
thing, would  avail  to  show  that  the  typical  representa- 
tions of  Christ's  intercession  may  still  be  retained  in 
the  church.  What  would  be  the  consequence  ?  This : 
that  so  much  of  the  temple-service  as  typified  the  sac- 
rificial death  of  Christ  was  abrogated  and  has  vanished, 
and  so  much  as  pertained  to  his  intercession,  as  not  yet 
completed,  may  still  be  legitimately  employed.  That 
is  to  say,  a  service  which  God  made  one  great  whole, 
may  now,  at  the  discretion  of  the  church,  be  divided  in 
twain — a  part  discarded  and  a  part  retained.  No  sober 
Protestant  mind  could  possibly  entertain  such  a  view. 
No  more,  for  like  reasons,  could  it  tolerate  a  retention 
of  those  typical  services  which  foreshadowed  the  con- 
tinuous effusion  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Either  the  whole 
temple-service  or  none :  these  are  the  alternatives  to 
which  the  Christian  church  was  reduced.  It  elected 
the  latter,  and  it  has  been  reserved  for  Rome  and  the 
high-church  Prelatists  who  agree  with  her  to  pursue  a 
middle  course,  and  not  presuming  to  retain  bloody  sac- 
rifices, to  divorce  what  God  had  joined  together,  and  to 
perpetrate  the  solemn  mockery  of  a  mutilated  temple 
ritual. 

In  the  second  place,  the  temple  itself  was  a  type  of 
Christ  and  his  mediatorial  work.     But  it  has  fulfilled 


ABGUMENT  PROM  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  87 

its  typical  office,  and  has  ceased  to  exist.  To  retain  a 
pari  of  its  services  is  to  suppose  the  continued  exist- 
ence of  the  temple,  for  God  never  authorized  the  em- 
ployment of  those  services  except  in  immediate  con- 
nection an  itli  that  particular  structure,  after  the  taber- 
naele  bad  given  way  to  it  by  his  inspired  direction. 
The  force  of  tins  consideration  is  acknowledged  by  the 
Jews  themselves,  who  do  not  pretend  to  offer  bloody 
sacrifices  elsewhere.  If  the  cathedral  takes  the  place 
of  the  temple,  we  would  have  many  sacred  edifices,  in 
many  different  places,  substituted  for  the  only  temple 
which  existed  by  divine  appointment,  to  which  the 
tribes  of  Israel  and  proselytes  from  distant  countries 
repaired  to  celebrate  the  great  typical  festivals.  If  wre 
may  have  but  one  substitute  for  it,  which  one?  Shall 
it  be  St.  Peter's?  And  must  all  the  world  go  to  that 
mountain  to  worship,  when  Jesus  Christ  has  said  that 
neither  at  Mount  Gerizim  nor  at  Mount  Moriah  will  men 
be  obliged  to  worship  ?  Jesus  has  thus  declared  that  the 
positive  enactment  which  required  ceremonial  worship 
at  the  Jewish  temple  is  abrogated;  and  the  New  Tes- 
tament is  utterly  silent  in  regard  to  any  transfer  to  the 
Christian  church  of  the  services  peculiar  to  that  edi- 
fice. 

In  the  third  place,  although  the  prophecies  contained 
in  the  Old  Testament  taught  a  continuous  communica- 
tion of  the  Spirit  until  the  complete  establishment  of 
Chii^t'^  mediatorial  kingdom  on  earth,  yet  they  them- 
Belves  were  finished  when  they  were  uttered.  So  with 
the  types  foreshadowing  the  same  thing.  We  might  as 
warrantably  add  to  those  prophecies  new  predictions 
because  they  have  not  had  a  consummate  fulfilment,  as 


88  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

continue  to  employ  the  types  because  they  have  not 
had  an  exhaustive  realization.  Both  sorts  of  prospec- 
tive representations  were  limited  by  God's  will,  and  the 
attempt  to  reinstitute  either,  or  to  continue  either,  by 
the  will  of  man,  would  be  to  invade  God's  prerogative 
and  to  disobey  God's  authority. 

In  the  fourth  place,  the  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit  has 
already  in  the  past  been  in  part  enjoyed  by  the  church, 
and  is  in  part  now  enjoyed  by  the  church,  and  to  per- 
petuate services  which  typify  it,  would  be  at  one  and 
the  same  time  to  confound  a  type  which  has  reference 
to  the  future  with  a  symbol  commemorating  the  past, 
and  to  observe  the  type  at  the  very  time  that  the  anti- 
type is  actually  manifested.  In  either  case  contradic- 
tion and  absurdity  would  result.  The  truth  is,  that  the 
glorious,  though  partial,  fulfilment  of  the  prophecies 
and  types  alike  of  the  old  dispensation  constitutes  a 
pledge,  definite  and  sufficient,  of  their  exhaustive  ful- 
filment in  the  future.  If  it  be  said  that  the  New  Tes- 
tament contains  prophecies  of  its  own  touching  the 
future  progress  of  Christ's  kingdom,  the  reply  is  easy, 
that  they  were  finished  and  sealed  up  with  the  comple- 
tion of  the  sacred  canon,  and  that  unless  the  church 
has  the  right,  furnished  by  fresh  inspiration,  to  create 
substantive  additions  to  the  Scriptures  which  God  pro- 
nounces perfect,  she  has  no  authority  to  utter  prophe- 
cies, in  the  strict  sense,  any  more ;  and  it  may  be  asked, 
where  are  the  types  peculiar  to  the  New  Testament? 
Are  we  pointed  to  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper? 
Let  it  be  proved  that  they  are  types  at  all ;  and  if  that 
could  be  proved,  all  that  would  be  established  is  that 
the  church  is  restricted  to  them  alone,  and  the  plea  for 


. 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  89 

a  sacerdotal  ritual  of  typical  services  would  be  cut  up 
by  the  roots. 

To  all  tins  it  may  be  answered,  that  what  is  con- 
tended for  is  that  the  Christian  church  is  warranted  by 
the  observance  of  services  analogous  to  those  of  the 
Jewish  temple  to  commemorate  the  past  illustrious 
events  of  her  history.  Where  is  the  warrant?  We 
have  a  divine  warrant  for  the  observance  of  the  Lord's 
day.  We  have  a  divine  warrant  for  the  observance  of 
the  two  sacraments  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper. 
What  other  days  are  we  enjoined  to  keep  holy?  What 
other  symbolical  ordinances  are  we  commanded  to  ob- 
serve? To  take  the  ground  that  the  church  has  a  dis- 
cretionary power  to  appoint  other  holy  days  and  other 
symbolical  rites  is  to  concede  to  Rome  the  legitimacy 
of  her  five  superfluous  sacraments  and  all  her  self-de- 
vised paraphernalia  of  sacred  festivals.  There  is  no 
middle  ground.  Either  we  are  bound  by  the  Lord's 
appointments  in  his  Word,  or  human  discretion  is  logi- 
cally entitled  to  the  full-blown  license  of  Rome. 

Sixthly,  The  speech  of  Stephen  before  the  Jewish 
Council.  This  speech  of  the  illustrious  proto-martyr  of 
the  Christian  church  must  ever  be  regarded  as  one  of 
the  strongest  scriptural  proofs  of  the  abolition  of  the 
temple- worship ;  but  as  it  will  come  to  be  considered  as 
one  of  the  elements  in  the  direct  argument  against  the 
use  of  instrumental  music  in  public  worship,  its  exami- 
nation will  for  the  present  be  deferred. 

Seventhly,  The  decree  of  the  Synod  of  Jerusalem. 
Certain  Judaizing  teachers  who  went  from  Jndea  to 
Antioch  "taught  the  brethren,  and  said,  Except  ye  !»<• 
circumcised  after  the   manner  of  Moses,  ye  cannot  be 


90  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

saved."  This  raised  the  whole  question  about  con- 
formity to  the  institutions  of  the  ceremonial  law  by  the 
Christian  church.  That  question  was  referred  to  the 
decision  of  the  apostles  and  elders  at  Jerusalem.  Paul 
and  Barnabas  were  the  commissioners.  They  laid  the 
case  before  an  assembled  synod.  The  decree  of  that 
body,  which  was  sent  to  the  Gentile  churches,  was : 
"  That  ye  abstain  from  meats  offered  to  idols,  and  from 
blood,  and  from  things  strangled,  and  from  fornication : 
from  which  if  ye  keep  yourselves,  ye  shall  do  well. 
Fare  ye  well."  The  significant  absence  of  any  allusion, 
explicitly  made,  to  the  question  about  the  ceremonial 
law  was  manifestly  equivalent  to  a  decision  that  it  was 
not  necessary  that  the  churches  should  conform  to  the 
requirements  of  that  law.  It  was  tantamount  to  a  judg- 
ment that  the  Mosaic  institutions,  so  far  as  they  were 
ceremonial  and  typical,  were  no  longer  binding.  Of 
course,  it  follows  that  the  venerable  synod  regarded  the 
observance  of  the  temple-worship  as  no  longer  obliga- 
tory, and  discharged  the  Gentile  churches  from  the 
duty  of  adhering  to  any  of  its  elements  which  were  dis- 
tinctive of  the  old  dispensation.1  To  suppose  that 
those  churches,  after  such  a  discharge,  had  discretion- 
ary power  to  retain  the  services  of  the  ceremonial  code 
is  to  suppose  that  they  might,  at  discretion,  forsake  the 
liberty  they  had  in  Christ  and  resume  the  yoke  of 
Moses.     The  supposition  is  absurd.     As  the  great  body 

1  This  was  afterwards  expressly  asserted  to  Paul  by  the  apostles  at 
Jerusalem  as  the  sense  of  the  synod's  decision.  "As  touching  the  Gen- 
tiles," said  they,  "which  believe,  we  have  written  and  concluded  that 
they  observe  no  such  thing. "     Acts  xxi.  25. 


AlUilMKXT  FROM  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  91 

of  the  Christian  church  has  been  gathered  from  the 
Gentiles,  the  inference  is  obvious. 

Eighthly,  The  speeches  of  Paul  at  his  last  visit  to 
Jerusalem.  The  charge  which  was  brought  against 
him  was  this:  "This  is  the  man  that  teacheth  all  men 
everywhere  against  the  people,  and  the  law,  and  this 
place."  If  the  charge  had  been  even  partly  false  that 
he  taught  against  the  law  and  the  temple,  Paul's  first 
step  in  his  defence  would  evidently  have  consisted  in 
denying  it.  This  denial  he  did  not  make.  How  can 
the  fact  be  accounted  for,  except  upon  the  ground  that 
Paul  was  well  aware  that  both  the  temple  and  its  pecu- 
liar services  were  doomed?  He  knew  the  prediction 
of  Jesus  that  the  building  would  be  destroyed,  and  he 
had  special  reason  for  remembering  the  defence  of  Ste- 
phen before  the  Council,  in  which  that  servant  of  Christ 
contended  that  the  whole  typical  ritual  would  give  way 
to  the  sublime  simplicity  of  worship  which  would  char- 
acterize tlie  new  dispensation.  That  Paul  himself  oc- 
casionally worshipped  at  the  temple  was  a  mere  matter 
of  expediency.  That  lie  took  part  in  its  ceremonial 
and  typical  observances  there  is  no  proof  to  show.  In- 
deed, without  any  assertion  upon  the  subject,  may  not 
the  question  be  raised,  whether,  after  the  day  of  Pen- 
tecost, when  the  Christian  dispensation  was  inaugura- 
ted, the  apostles  did  not,  as  men,  commit  a  mistake  in 
worshipping  at  all  at  the  temple.  It  is  difficult  to  be- 
that  Stephen  worshipped  there. 

Ninthly,  The  argument  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
is  decisive.      Tu  the  first  place,  it  shows  that  the  Anionic 

priests  and  Levitical  ministers  have  vanished,  having 
been  superseded  by  a  priest  after  the  order  of  Melchi- 


92  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

zedek,  who  has  offered  a  perfect  sacrifice,  and  lives  for- 
ever to  intercede  for  his  people  and  consummate  the 
work  of  redemption.  If  there  be  no  priests  and  Levites 
to  officiate,  how  is  it  possible  to  continue  the  services 
of  the  temple  ?  To  say  that  they  are  succeeded  by 
Christian  ministers  is  flatly  to  contradict  the  argument 
of  the  inspired  writer.  In  the  second  place,  the  argu- 
ment expressly  proves  that  the  temple-worship  has 
been  abolished.  After  stating  the  fact  that  the  first 
covenant  [that  is,  the  Jewish  dispensation1]  had  "  ordi- 
nances of  divine  service  and  a  worldly  sanctuary,"  and 
specifying  the  things  contained  and  the  offices  per- 
formed in  the  latter,  it  declares  that  "  the  first  taber- 
nacle"— and  by  this  term  the  temple,  as  well  as  the 
tabernacle  proper,  was  designated — "was  a  figure  for 
the  time  then  present ; "  but  that  Christ  had  come,  "  a 
high  priest  of  good  things  to  come  by  a  greater  and 
more  perfect  tabernacle."  The  figure  had  been  realized 
in  that  which  was  figured,  and  consequently  there  was 
no  longer  any  necessity  for  its  teaching  ;  indeed,  its 
teaching  would  be  utterly  false  and  misleading.  In  the 
third  place,  the  argument  shows  that  the  ceremonial 
law,  as  a  mere  shadow  of  good  things  to  come,  was  in- 
efficacious to  provide  for  the  removal  of  guilt  from  the 
conscience  and  the  sanctification  of  the  soul.  But  these 
ends  are  now  secured  by  Christ  through  the  sacrifice  of 
himself.     Now  there  is  no  need  to  approach  God  by 

1  The  allusion  here  cannot  be  to  the  covenant  of  works  as  histori- 
cally preceding  the  covenant  of  grace.  It  is  to  that  special  form  in 
which  God  administered  the  covenant  of  grace  in  the  Jewish  dispensa- 
tion which  gave  way  to  another  form  of  administration  under  the 
Christian  economy. 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  93 

the  old  way  of  the  temple-worship.  We  are  at  liberty 
to  approach  him  by  a  new  and  living  way,  which  Christ 
hath  consecrated  for  us  through  the  veil;  that  is  to  say, 
his  flesh.  His  atoning  death  lias  cancelled  the  neces- 
sity for  the  temple  and  all  its  ceremonial  and  typical 
observances. 

3.  The  i  'l'ovidence  of  God  settled  this  question.  It 
effectually  abolished  the  temple  and  its  services.  The 
Lord  Jesus,  before  his  death,  predicted  the  destruction 
of  the  temple  itself.  Forty  years  after  his  death  the 
Romans  destroyed  it.  This,  it  may  be  urged,  proved 
nothing  as  to  the  legitimacy  of  continuing  its  services : 
it  may,  for  aught  we  know,  be  restored.  It  is  true  that 
the  temple  was  rebuilt  after  the  Babylonish  captivity. 
This  was  accomplished  upon  the  expiration  of  seventy 
years  only,  and  then  by  God's  direction.  The  Messiah 
had  not  come,  and  the  typical  office  of  the  temple  might 
still  be  fitly  discharged.  But  he  did  come,  and  the 
rending  of  the  veil,  when  he  expired,  was  the  patent 
signal  of  the  temple's  doom.  More  than  eighteen  hun- 
dred years  have  elapsed  since  its  destruction,  and  it  is 
not  yet  rebuilt.  God  has  never  directed  its  reconstruc- 
tion, but  on  the  contrary  has  by  his  providence  pre- 
vented it  when  it  has  been  attempted.  The  Emperor 
Julian,  commonly  called  the  Apostate,  made  the  effort., 
and  was  battled  in  a  most  extraordinary  way.  In  speak- 
ing of  what  he  terms  "the  miraculous  interposition  of 
heaven,  which  defeated  Julian's  attempt  to  rebuild  the 
Jewish  temple  of  Jerusalem,"  Bishop  Warburton  says: 
constituting  the  essentials  of  their  [the 
worship,  their  religion  could  not  be  said  to  exist 
longer  than  that  celebration  continued.  But  sacrifices 
9 


94  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

were  to  be  performed  in  no  place  out  of  the  walls  of 
their  temple.  So  that  when  this  holy  place  was  finally 
destroyed,  according  to  the  prophetical  predictions,  the 
institution  itself  became  abolished.  Nor  was  anything 
more  consonant  to  the  genius  of  this  religion,  than  the 
assigning  such  a  celebration  of  its  principal  rites.  The 
temple  would  exist  while  they  remained  a  people,  and 
continued  sovereign.  And  when  their  sovereignty  was 
lost,  the  temple-worship  became  precarious,  and  sub- 
ject to  the  arbitrary  pleasure  of  their  masters.  They 
destroyed  this  temple :  but  it  was  not  till  it  had  lost  its 
use.  For  the  rites,  directed  to  be  there  celebrated, 
were  relative  to  them  only  as  a  free-policied  people. 

"  So  that  this  was,  in  reality,  a  total  extinction  of  the 
Jewish  worship.  How  wonderful  are  the  ways  of  God! 
This  came  to  pass  at  that  very  period  when  a  new  rev- 
elation from  heaven  concurred  with  the  blind  transac- 
tions of  civil  policy,  to  supersede  the  law  by  the  intro- 
duction of  the  gospel :  the  last  great  work  which  com- 
pleted the  scheme  of  human  redemption. 

"  To  confound  this  admirable  order  of  providence  was 
what  induced  the  Emperor  Julian  to  attempt  the  re- 
building of  the  Jewish  temple  of  Jerusalem.  The  van- 
ity of  the  attempt  could  only  be  equalled  by  its  impiety ; 
for  it  was  designed  to  give  the  lie  to  God,  who,  by  the 
mouth  of  his  prophets,  had  foretold  that  it  should  never 
be  rebuilt.  Here,  then,  was  the  most  important  occa- 
sion for  a  miraculous  interposition,  as  it  was  to  defeat 
this  mad  attempt.  And  thus  in  fact  it  was  defeated,  to 
the  admiration  of  all  mankind. 

"  But  as  a  large  and  full  account  of  the  whole  affair 
hath  been  already  given  to  the  public,  in  a  work  en- 


ABGUMENT  WBOM  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  95 

tituled — Julian,  or  a  Discourse  concerning  the  Earth- 
quake and  Fiery  Eruption  which  defeated  that  Em- 
peror's attempt  to  rebuild  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem; 
thither  will  I  refer  the  learned  reader,  who  will  there 
inert  with  all  the  various  evidence  of  the  fact,  abun- 
dantly sufficient  to  support  and  establish  it;  together 
with  a  full  confutation  of  all  the  cavils  opposed  to  its 
certainty  and  necessity." 

It  may  be  pleaded,  that  although  the  temple  may  be 
irrevocably  destroyed,  its  priestly  services  may,  in  some 
Bense,  be  transferred  in  a  modified  form  and  under  new 
conditions  to  the  Christian  church:  that  the  New  Tes- 
tament itself  authorizes  the  offices  of  a  priesthood. 
Y«  s.  it  declares  all  believers  to  be  made  priests  in  Christ 
to  God,  but  priests,  as  offering  eucharistic  sacrifices — 
sacrifices. of  themselves,  of  their  prayers,  and  of  their 
substance.  Nothing  more  need  be  said  in  rebuttal  of 
this  wretched  perversion  of  Scripture  than  that  the 
•word  priest  i  fepevs)  is  never,  in  the  singular,  applied  in 
the  New  Testament  to  any  merely  human  officer  of  the 
church.  He  who  assumes  to  be  officially  a  priest  usurps 
the  prerogative  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  audaciously  invokes 
his  judgment.  This  is  sufficient  in  reply  to  sacerdotal- 
Lstfl  who,  if  not  already  within  the  pale  of  Rome,  need 
only  to  push  out  their  views  to  a  legitimate  conclusion 
in  order  to  reach  the  popish  outrage  of  the  Mass. 

We  must  concur  with  Waxburton  in  holding  that  the 
destruction  of  the  temple,  after  the  death  of  Christ,  in- 
volved the  "extinction"  of  all  that  was  peculiar  and 
characteristic  in  the  temple-worship. 

The  abolition  of  the  temple-worship,  so  far  as  it  was 
peculiar  to   the    Jewish   dispensation,   has  now  been 


96  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

proved  by  an  appeal  to  the  nature  of  the  case,  to  the 
statements  of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures,  and  to  the 
awful  providence  of  God ;  and  as  it  was  before  incon- 
testably  shown  that  instrumental  music  was  employed 
alone  in  that  worship,  so  far  as  the  public  religious  ser- 
vices of  God's  people  were  concerned,  it  follows  that 
that  kind  of  music  is,  with  those  limitations,  abolished, 
and  that  its  use  in  the  Christian  church  is  contrary  to 
the  Word  and  will  of  God. 

2.  The  second  argument  will  be  derived  from  the  re- 
production by  the  Christian  church,  under  New  Testa- 
ment conditions,  of  the  essential  principles  of  polity  and 
worship  which  obtained  in  the  Jewish  synagogue. 

Let  us  pause  to  indicate  briefly  the  elements  of  dif- 
ference and  of  similarity  between  the  church  of  the  new 
dispensation  and  that  of  the  old. 

The  prominent  elements  by  which  the  Christian 
church  was  obviously  distinguished  from  the  Jewish 
were : 

(1.)  The  actual  advent,  death,  resurrection,  exalta- 
tion, intercession,  and  mediatorial  reign,  of  Christ ;  with 
all  the  consequences  which  flowed  from  those  stupen- 
dous events.  The  old  church  looked  forward  to  them 
all;  the  new  looks  backward  to  some  of  them,  contem- 
plates others  as  continuing  to  exist,  and  looks  ever  for- 
ward to  the  second  coming  of  the  Saviour  to  complete 
the  redemption  of  his  people  and  judge  the  quick  and 
the  dead.  Jesus  is  more  distinctly,  than  was  possible  to 
the  Old  Testament,  saints,  recognized  and  worshipped 
as  the  King  and  Head  of  the  church,  and  as  the  Media- 
torial Sovereign  to  whose  hands  God  the  Father  has 


:  MINT  PROM  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  97 

committed  dominion  over  all  things  in  heaven,  earth 
and  hell. 

_  I  The  influence  proceeding  from  the  copious  effu- 
sion of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  results  attending  it, 
upon  the  disciples  and  their  fellow-believers  in  wonder- 
fully increasing  their  gifts  and  graces,  and  upon  the 
mass  of  unbelievers  in  the  conviction  of  their  minds 
and  the  conversion  of  their  souls. 

(3.)  The  elimination  of  all  that  was  ceremonial  and 
typical  in  the  old  dispensation.  Only  two  symbolical 
ordinances  are  commanded  by  Christ  to  be  observed: 
tln>  sacraments  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper. 
Simplicity  is  the  reigning  genius  of  worship,  only  such 
external  instrumentalities  being  allowed  as  are  neces- 
sary to  constitute  the  media  of  its  expression.  All  else, 
Bave  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper,  is  swept  away. 

(4.)  The  exaltation,  accentuation  and  extension  of 
the  preaching  function :  evangelism  is  made  dominant 
in  contradistinction  to  the  dominant  conservatism  of 
the  Old  Testament  church, — dominant,  let  it  be  ob- 
served, for  the  Jewish  church  was  not  merely  and  ab- 
solutely conservative,  as  provision  was  made  for  the 
admission  of  proselytes  from  the  Gentile  nations;  and 
the  Christian  church  is  very  far  from  being  simply 
evangelistic,  since  it  is  an  important  part  of  her  duty 
t«>  preserve,  maintain  and  defend  the  truth,  and  to 
train  the  sons  of  God  for  service  on  earth  and  glory  in 
heaven. 

5.  The  emphasizing  of  the  singing  of  praise  in 
public  worship.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the 
apostles  made  singing,  as  a  distinct  and  articulate  part 

of  worship,  more  prominent  in  the  Christian  church 


98  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

than  it  had  been  in  the  services  of  the  Jewish  syna- 
gogue. The  reason  would  seem  to  be  plain.  It  is  the 
most  fitting  vehicle  for  the  utterance  of  gratitude  and 
joy;  and  the  Christian  is  peculiarly  called  upon  to  ex- 
press these  sentiments  in  worship,  in  consequence  of 
the  finished  atonement  of  Christ  and  the  out-poured 
influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  question  next  being,  what  elements  of  similarity 
there  are  between  the  church  under  the  new  dispensa- 
tion and  that  under  the  old,  it  is  obvious  from  what  has 
been  said  in  regard  to  the  typical  and  temporary  char- 
acter of  the  Jewish  temple,  that  it  could  not  have  con- 
stituted the  pattern  or  model  in  conformity  with  which 
the  Christian  church  was  organized.  We  must  look 
elsewhere,  if  anywhere,  for  such  an  ideal.  We  find 
that  in  the  Jewish  synagogue,  as  an  organized  institute, 
there  existed  those  essential  elements  of  polity  and  wor- 
ship which  possess  the  character  of  permanence,  ele- 
ments which  were  destined  to  form  the  abiding  attri- 
butes of  the  visible  church  through  all  dispensational 
changes.  We  might,  therefore,  conclude,  from  the  very 
nature  of  the  case,  that  such  elements  would  pass  over 
by  an  easy  transition,  without  the  jar  of  dislocation  and 
a  wholly  new  construction,  to  the  church  of  the  new 
dispensation.  This  antecedent  presumption  we  dis- 
cover to  be  confirmed  by  facts. 

The  synagogue,  according  to  those  authors,  both 
Jewish  and  Christian,  who  are  best  entitled  to  speak 
on  the  subject,  had,  as  to  its  polity,  elders,  deacons, 
and — I  am  disposed  to  believe — preachers.  At  least, 
there  was  the  germ  of  the  preaching  function  which 
only  needed  expansion  to  make  it  complete.      Here 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  09 

were  the  essential  elements,  which  only  required  to  be 
modified  by  New  Testament  conditions  to  become  the 
constituents  of  the  polity  and  order  of  Christian  con- 
gregations. When,  accordingly,  the  majority  of  a  Jew- 
ish synagogue  were  converted  to  the  Christian  faith,  it 
became  at  once,  simply  by  a  profession  of  Christianity, 
without  any  marked  outward  change,  a  Christian  church, 
with  its  officers  already  in  existence,  and  consequently 
not  needing  to  be  elected  and  ordained.  In  a  word, 
there  was  no  necessity  to  create  new  offices.  The  old 
might  need  to  be  modified  and  extended  in  consequence 
of  the  new  relations  and  conditions  involved,  but  not  to 
1m-  vacated  so  that  new  offices,  another  kind  of  offices, 
should  be  substituted  for  them.  Hence,  in  the  accounts 
given  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  of  the  first  gathering 
of  Christian  churches,  we  have  no  notice  of  the  institu- 
tion of  the  office  of  elder  ab  initio.  The  Jewish  elders 
of  the  synagogue  became  the  Christian  elders  of  the 
church.  The  same,  with  the  exception  of  the  apostles 
and  other  extraordinary  officers,  would  seem  to  have 
been  true  of  all  the  offices  of  the  Christian  church— of 
preachers,  and  in  all  probability  of  deacons.  There  is 
do  positive  proof  thai  the  appointment  of  the  Seven  was 
a  creation  of  the  diaconal  office.  The  evidence  tends 
to  an  opposite  conclusion.  The  narrative  leads  natu- 
rally to  the  conclusion  that  there  were,  under  the  su- 
perintendence of  the  apostles,  Hebrew  deacons  who 
attended  to  the  distribution  of  the  common  fund  con- 
tributed by  the  church;  and  that  the  Seven  (whose 
names  are  Hellenistic),  were  added  to  the  already  ex- 
isting corps  of  deacons,  in  order  to  still  the  murmurs 
of  the  Hellenist  converts  and   adequately  meet  their 


100  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

wants.  As  this  is  a  point  only  subsidiary  to  the  argu- 
ment in  hand,  it  will  not  be  elaborately  discussed.  A 
considerable  mass  of  testimonies  might  be  collected 
from  learned  writers  who,  although  characterized  by 
different  types  of  theological  and  ecclesiastical  thought, 
have  contended  that  the  Christian  church  was  organized 
after  the  analogy  of  the  synagogue.  It  may  be  suffi- 
cient to  cite  the  frequently  quoted  remarks  of  one  who, 
in  view  of  his  church  relations  and  official  position, 
must  be  regarded  as  having  spoken  with  distinguished 
candor  upon  this  subject.  "  It  is  probable,"  says  Arch- 
bishop "Wliately, 1  "that  one  cause,  humanly  speaking, 
why  we  find  in  the  Sacred  Books  less  information  con- 
cerning the  Christian  ministry  and  the  constitution 
of  church-governments  than  we  otherwise  might  have 
found,  is  that  these  institutions  had  less  of  novelty  than 
some  would  at  first  sight  suppose,  and  that  many  por- 
tions of  them  did  not  wholly  originate  with  the  apostles. 
It  appears  highly  probable — I  might  say,  morally  cer- 
tain— that,  wherever  a  Jewish  synagogue  existed,  that 
was  brought,  the  whole,  or  the  chief  part  of  it,  to  em- 
brace the  gospel,  the  apostles  did  not  there  so  much 
form  a  Christian  church  (or  congregation,  ecclesia),  as 
make  an  existing  congregation  Christian,  by  introducing 
the  Christian  sacraments  and  worship,  and  establish- 
ing whatever  regulations  were  requisite  for  the  newly- 
adopted  faith;  leaving  the  machinery  (if  I  may  so 
speak)  of  government  unchanged;  the  rulers  of  syna- 
gogues, elders  and  other  officers  (whether  spiritual  or 
ecclesiastical,  or  both)  being  already  provided  in  the 

1  Kingdom  of  Christ,  pp.  83-85.     Am.  Ed.,  pp.  84-86., 


ARGUMENT  PROW  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  101 

existing  institutions.  And  it  is  likely  that  several  of 
the  earliest  Christian  churches  did  originate  in  this 
w;i  v ;  that  is,  that  they  were  converted  synagogues, 
which  became  Christian  churches  as  soon  as  the  mem- 
bers, or  the  main  part  of  the  members,  acknowledged 
Jesus  as  the  Messiah. 

"The  attempt  to  effect  this  conversion  of  a  Jewish 
synagogue  into  a  Christian  church  seems  always  to  have 
been  made,  in  the  first  instance,  in  every  place  where 
there  was  an  opening  for  it.  Even  after  the  call  of  the 
idolatrous  Gentiles,  it  appears  plainly  to  have  been  the 
practice  of  the  apostles  Paul  and  Barnabas,  when  they 
came  to  any  city  where  there  was  a  synagogue,  to  go 
thither  first  and  deliver  their  sacred  message  to  the 
Jews  and  'devout  Gentiles' ;  according  to  their  own  ex- 
en  --ion  (Aetsxiii.  17),  'to the  men  of  Israel  and  those 
that  feared  God;'  adding  that 'it  was  necessary  that 
the  Word  of  God  should  first  be  preached  to  them.' 
And  when  they  founded  a  church  in  any  of  those  cities 
in  which  i  and  such  were,  probably,  a  very  large  major- 
ity i  there  was  no  Jewish  synagogue  that  received  the 
1,  it  is  likely  they  would  still  conform,  in  a  great 
measure,  to  the  same  model."  In  these  viewTs  such 
men  as  Grotius,  Vitringa,  Selden  and  Lightfoot  concur. 

If  this  lie  so,  if  the  Christian  church  adopted  its 
polity  and  its  ordinary  officers  from  the  Jewish  syna- 
gogue, it  is  almost  unnecessary  to  argue  that  it  appro- 
priated its  mode  of  worship  from  the  same  source.  It 
was  that  to  which  in  the  past  the  people  of  God  had 
been  accustomed  in  their  stated  meetings  on  the  Sab- 
bath. Why  Bhould  it  not  have  continued  for  all  the 
future?     This  would  have  been  the  almost  inevitable 


102  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

result,  unless  the  Head  of  the  Church  had  autho- 
ritatively directed  a  change  to  be  made,  and  had  pre- 
scribed another  and  a  different  method  of  worship  which 
he  willed  to  be  observed.  There  is  not  the  slightest 
proof  to  show  that  he  did,  except  in  the  instances  of 
baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper;  and  this  silence  of 
Christ,  and  the  absence  of  inspired  direction  to  that 
effect  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  are  entitled  to  be  construed 
as  an  approval  of  the  continuance  by  the  church  of  the 
long-standing  and  venerable  mode  of  worship  of  the 
Jewish  synagogue.  This  probable  argument  amounts 
to  certainty,  in  view  of  the  significant  fact,  that  the  ele- 
ments of  public  worship  actually  enumerated  in  the 
New  Testament  are  precisely  those  which  existed  in  the 
synagogue.  As,  then,  the  use  of  instrumental  music 
was  unknown  in  the  worship  of  the  synagogue  it  was 
not  introduced  into  the  Christian  church. 

To  this  two  considerations  may  be  added :  first,  that 
the  analogy  between  the  synagogue  and  the  Christian 
church  is  sustained  by  the  fact  that  the  LXX.  frequently 
use  the  term  ecclesia  as  convertible  with  synagogue; 
and  secondly,  that  as  the  temple  stood  and  its  worship 
continued  for  many  years  after  the  first  Christian 
churches  were  constituted,  the  introduction  into  them 
of  a  kind  of  music  which  every  Jew  knew  to  be  pecu- 
liar to  the  temple  would  have  furnished  in  itself  a  rea- 
son for  intense  hostility  to  Christianity,  and  have  called 
forth  a  special  opposition  which  would  have  left  its  im- 
press upon  the  records  of  the  times,  both  sacred  and 
profane.  But  we  hear  nothing  of  such  a  conflict,  and 
the  inference  is  well-nigh  irresistible  that  the  ground 
for  it  did  not  exist ;  instrumental  music  had  no  place  in 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  103 

the  early  Christian  churches.  This  particular  consid- 
eration is,  moreover,  enhanced  when  we  reflect  that  the 
Jewish  synagogues  themselves  passed  by  an  easy  transi- 
tion into  Christian  congregations.  But  that  the  con- 
verted .Tew  should,  without  difficulty,  have  admitted 
into  the  synagogue,  even  though  christianized,  an  ele- 
ment which  belonged  to  the  temple  as  peculiar  and 
typical,  or  that  the  Christian  should  have  adopted  part 
of  a  worship  the  abolition  of  which  he  knew  to  be  cer- 
tain, is  either  of  them  a  supposition  too  violent  to  be 
entertained. 

3.  The  third  argument  against  the  employment  of  in- 
strumental music  in  the  Christian  church  will  be  drawn 
from  the  great  speech  of  Stephen  before  the  Jewish 
Council. 

He  was  altogether  an  extraordinary  man.  Endowed 
with  great  intellectual  abilities,  full  of  faith  and  power 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  disputed  with  such  vigor 
against  the  Libertines,  Cyrenians  and  Alexandrians, 
and  them  of  Cilicia  and  Asia,  that  "they  were  not 
able  to  resist  the  wisdom  and  the  spirit  by  which  he 
spake."  The  reference  to  Cilicia  makes  it  highly  pro- 
bable that  in' these  public  discussions  he  had  Saul,  the 
scholar  of  Tarsus  and  the  disciple  of  Gamaliel,  as  one 
of  his  antagonists;  and  it  maybe  that  the  defeat  in  ar- 
gmnent  t<>  which  the  gifted  and  aspiring  zealot  was 
subjected  may  have  armed  him  with  the  acrimony 
which  found  so  conspicuous  expression  at  the  execution 
of  the  martyr.  Not  being  able  to  cope  with  him  on  tin; 
field  of  honorable  debate,  his  adversaries  resorted  to 
the  expedient  which  discomfited  malice  is  wont  to  sug- 


104  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHUECH  WOKSHIP. 

gest — they  prosecuted  him  before  the  supreme  judica- 
tory. The  charge  against  him  was :  "  We  have  heard 
him  speak  blasphemous  words  against  Moses  and 
against  God ;  this  man  ceaseth  not  to  speak  blasphe- 
mous words  against  this  holy  place,  and  the  law :  for 
we  have  heard  him  say  that  this  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
shall  destroy  this  place,  and  change  the  customs  which 
Moses  delivered  us."  As  is  apt  to  be  the  case,  this 
charge  is  partly  true  and  partly  false.  It  was  false,  so 
far  as  it  alleged  blasphemy  against  Moses  and  against 
God.  So  far  as  it  affirmed  Stephen's  declaration,  that 
the  temple  would  be  destroyed,  and  the  customs  or 
rites,  as  ceremonial  and  typical,  of  the  Mosaic  code, 
would  be  changed,  it  must,  for  two  reasons,  be  con- 
sidered true — in  the  first  place,  because  the  defendant 
never  denied  that  allegation ;  and  in  the  second  place, 
because  his  defence  itself  proved  its  relevancy.  This 
construction  of  the  charge  has  strong  support.  "  This 
charge,"  says  Prof.  Joseph  Addison  Alexander,1  "Avas 
no  doubt  true,  so  far  as  it  related  to  the  doctrine  that 
the  new  religion,  or  rather  the  new  form  of  the  church, 
was  to  supersede  the  old."  "Down  to  this  time,"  ob- 
serves Dr.  Arthur  Penrhyn  Stanley,2  "  the  apostles  and 
the  early  Christian  community  had  clung  in  their  wor- 
ship, not  merely  to  the  holy  land  and  the  holy  city,  but 
to  the  holy  place  of  the  temple.  This  local  worship, 
with  the  Jewish  customs  belonging  to  it,  he  [Stephen] 
now  denounced.  So  we  must  infer  from  the  accusa- 
tions brought  against  him,  confirmed  as  they  are  by  the 
tenor  of  his  defence.  The  actual  words  of  the  charge 
may  have  been  false,  as  the  sinister  and  malignant  in- 

1  Comm.  on  Acts,  Chap.  vi.      2  Art.  Stephen,  Smith's  Diet,  of  Bible. 


AEGUMENT  FROM  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  105 

tention  which  they  ascribed  to  him  was  undoubtedly 
false.  'Blasphemous,1  that  is,  'calumnious'  words, 
'against  Moses  and  against  God' he  is  not  likely  to 
have  used.  But  the  overthrow  of  the  temple,  the  ces- 
sation of  the  the  Mosaic  ritual,  is  no  more  than  St. 
Paul  preached  openly,  or  than  is  implied  in  Stephen's 
own  speech  :  '  against  this  holy  place  and  the  hw — that 
-  of  Nazareth  shall  destroy  this  place,  and  shall 
change  the  customs  that  Moses  delivered  us.'" 

The  speech,  in  conformity  with  a  tendency  of  the 
oriental  mind,  is  cast  in  the  framework  of  an  historical 
statement,  and  to  the  cursory  reader  does  not  present 
the  features  of  an  argument.  It  is  nevertheless  a  pow- 
erful argument.  There  are  two  great  principles  the 
assertion  of  which  it  involved,  and  upon  which  it  pro- 
ceeded :  first,  the  spirituality  of  God ;  secondly,  his  in- 
finite immensity.  From  the  first  the  great  speaker  ar- 
gued that  it  would  be  folly  to  hold  that  God  could  be 
adequately  worshipped  by  material  emblems  and  cere- 
monial rites.  From  the  second  he  derived  the  conse- 
quence that  as  God  could  not  be  confined  to  one  place, 
neither  could  his  worship.  These  positions  he  sus- 
tained by  an  appeal,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  history  of 
Israel,  and,  in  the  second  place,  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
prophets.  He  shows  that  the  church-state  of  the  He- 
brews had  undergone  great  changes — changes  which 
rendered  it  impossible  that  they  could  have  worshipped 
always  in  one  particular  mode,  in  one  particular  locality, 
and  at  one  particular  sanctuary.  The  church,  as  organ- 
ized in  the  family  of  their  great  ancestor,  Abraham, 
worshipped  without  the  temple.  The  church,  while  in 
bondage  in  Egypt,  worshipped  without  the  temple. 
10 


106  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHUECH  WORSHIP. 

The  church,  in  its  migrations  for  forty  years  in  the 
wilderness,  worshipped  without  the  temple.  The  church, 
after  it  had  found  rest  in  the  land  of  promise,  through 
the  whole  period  of  the  Judges,  and  through  the  reigns 
of  Saul  and  David,  worshipped  without  the  temple.  It 
was  not  until  Solomon  that  the  temple  was  built,  and 
its  peculiar  services  were  inaugurated  as  supplementary 
to,  and  perfective  of,  those  which  had  belonged  to  the 
tabernacle.  Here  Stephen  reaches  the  conclusion  of 
the  first  branch  of  his  argument — namely,  that  the  his- 
tory of  the  Hebrew  church  proved  that  the  temple  in 
which  his  judges  gloried  had  not  been,  in  the  past,  a 
necessity  to  the  spiritual  worship  of  God,  and  therefore 
it  involved  neither  absurdity  nor  impiety  to  hold  that 
the  church  would  again  worship  without  it. 

He  then  proceeds  to  confirm  this  lesson  from  the 
Israelitish  history  by  the  doctrine  of  the  prophets, 
which  teaches  the  greatness,  majesty,  infinity  of  God: 
"  Howbeit  the  Most  High  dwelleth  not  in  temples  made 
with  hands  ;  as  saith  the  prophet,  Heaven  is  my  throne, 
and  earth  is  my  footstool:  what  house  will  ye  build 
me  ?  saith  the  Lord :  or  what  is  the  place  of  my  rest  ? 
Hath  not  my  hand  made  all  these  things  ?  "  Evidently 
the  argument  went  to  show  the  unreasonableness  of  so 
localizing  the  worship  of  the  infinite  Being  as  to  tie 
him  to  a  single  house  of  worship.  It  implicitly  affirmed 
the  temporary  character  of  the  temple,  and  would,  in 
all  probability,  have  made  the  assertion  explicit  had 
not  some  manifestation  of  anger  and  pride  on  the  part 
of  the  Council  interrupted  the  speaker.  This  led  the 
fearless  and  impassioned  witness  for  the  gospel  directly 
to  indict  his  judges :  "  Ye  stiff-necked  and  uncircum- 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  107 

d  in  heart  and  ears,  ye  do  always,  resist  the  Holy 
Ghost:  as  your  fathers  did,  so  do  ye."  It  is  clearly 
implied  that  as  their  fathers  had  resisted  the  Holy 
Ghost  in  respect  to  the  matter  of  worshipping  accord- 
ing to  God's  appointments,  so  they  resisted  him  in  the 
same  manner.  When,  for  example,  the  Spirit  directed 
their  fathers  to  worship  ar  the  temple,  they  worshipped 
on  high  places  and  in  groves.  Now  that  a  new  dispen- 
sation had  been  introduced,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  di- 
rected them  to  abandon  the  temple-worship  as  having 
discharged  its  typical  and  temporary  office,  they  dis- 
obeyed him,  and  insisted  upon  continuing  that  wor- 
ship. This  outburst  of  holy  eloquence  cut  them  to  the 
heart  and  drew  from  them  expressions  of  rage.  Aud 
when  he  declared  that  he  saw  Jesus,  whom  he  had 
charged  them  with  having  murdered,  standing  on  the 
right  hand  of  God,  it  became  intolerable,  and  resolving 
themselves  into  a  furious  mob,  they  rushed  upon  him, 
dragged  him  outside  the  gate  of  the  city,  and  pitilessly 
stoned  him  to  death. 

In  this  speech  it  is  clear  that  Stephen  erected  a  tes- 
timony which  cost  him  his  life  in  favor  of  the  abroga- 
tion of  the  temple-worship  ;  and  as  instrumental  music 
was  peculiar  to  that  worship,  we  have  an  independent 
line  of  proof  from  the  New  Testament  that  it  was  not 
introduced,  and  was  not  designed  to  be  introduced, 
into  the  Christian  church. 

There  is,  besides,  another  aspect  of  this  immortal 
speech  which  must  not  be  overlooked.  Stephen,  en- 
dowed  with  extraordinary  penetration  of  mind,  and 
with  a  wonderful  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  seemed 
to  be   in  advance  of  the  apostolic  college  itself  in  his 


108  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

estimate  of  the  genius  of  gospel- worship.  He  con- 
tended, as  the  Lord  Jesus  had  before  declared,  that  the 
spirituality  of  God  demanded  spiritual  worship,  and 
delivered  a  testimony  sealed  with  blood  in  behalf  of 
the  absolute  simplicity  of  gospel  institutions.  Stripped 
of  all  the  burdensome  though  splendid  ritual  of  the 
temple,  they  would  reproduce  the  simple  and  unosten- 
tatious services  of  the  synagogue,  and  interject  nothing 
which  was  not  expressly  prescribed  by  divine  authority, 
or  required  by  necessity,  between  the  living  worshipper 
and  the  living  God.  TJie  spirituality  and  simplicity  of 
gospel-worship, — this  was  what  the  illustrious  deacon 
insisted  upon  in  burning  words  and  with  dauntless 
spirit  before  that  bigoted  and  furious  bench  of  zealots ; 
this  was  the  principle  which  he  saturated  with  martyr 
blood  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  Christian  dispensa- 
tion. Would  that  every  officer  of  the  church  would 
imitate  the  glorious  example,  and  in  the  face  of  popu- 
lar clamor  and  the  demands  of  this  world's  princes, 
bear  an  unwavering  testimony  against  the  introduction 
into  the  public  worship  of  the  church  of  every  abro- 
gated element  of  the  ancient  temple-services  ! 

4.  The  next  proof  is  based  upon  the  teaching  of  Christ 
and  his  apostles — a  teaching  enforced  by  their  practice. 

(1.)  The  teaching  of  the  Lord  Jesus  excluded  instru- 
mental music  from  the  public  worship  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment church.  He  declared  that  God  is  vainly  wor- 
shipped when  the  doctrines  and  commandments  of  men 
are  substituted  for  his  own.  "We  have  seen  that,  by 
divine  direction,  by  the  doctrine  and  commandment  of 
God,  instrumental  music  in  the  Old  Testament  church 


DMENT  PROM  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  109 

was  excluded  from  the  ordinary,  stated  worship  of  his 
people  on  the  Sabbath  day  in  the  synagogue,  and  was 
confined  to  the  Bervices  of  the  temple.  "We  haye  also 
n  that  the  Christian  church  in  its  polity  and  worship 
was,  under  the  conditions  and  with  the  modifications 
necessitated  by  the  new  dispensation,  modelled  after 
the  Jewish  synagogue.  No  entirely  new  element  of 
worship  was  incorporated  into  the  services  of  that 
church.  Jesus  did  not  authorize  the  effectuation  of 
such  a  change.  Consequently  the  introduction  of  in- 
strumental music,  which  God  had  not  sanctioned,  or 
rather  had  prohibited,  in  the  worship  of  the  synagogue 
would  have  been  the  substitution  of  a  doctrine  and 
commandment  of  men  for  those  which  proceeded  from 
God. 

In  his  conversation  with  the  Samaritan  woman  at 
Jacob's  well,  our  Saviour  enounced  the  great  principle 
of  the  spirituality  of  worship :  "  God  is  a  spirit,  and 
they  that  worship  him  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and 
in  truth."  While  he  acknowledged  that  the  Jews,  in 
contradistinction  to  the  Samaritans,  paid  intelligent 
worship  to  God,  for  the  reason  that  it  involved  the 
knowledge  of  salvation — a  salvation  to  be  accomplished 
by  One  who,  according  to  tin-  hVsh,  would  spring  from 
tin'  Jewish  stock,  and  while  he  virtually  admitted  that 
they  had  complied  with  divine  direction  in  conducting 
a  ceremonial  and  typical  worship  with  its  seat  at  Jeru- 
salem, he  added  the  significant  words:  "Believe  me, 
the  hour  Cometh,  when  ye  shall  neither  in  this  moun- 
tain, nor  yet  at  Jerusalem,  worship  the  Father 

The  hour  Cometh  and  now  is,  when  the  true  worship- 
pers shall  worship  the   Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth: 


110  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

for  the  Father  seeketh  such  to  worship  him."  In  these 
words,  which  adumbrated  the  genius  of  gospel- worship, 
our  blessed  Lord  clearly  taught  two  things :  first,  that 
the  ceremonial,  typical,  ritualistic  worship  of  the  Jewish 
temple  was  designed  to  be  temporary,  and  that  the 
hour  was  swiftly  approaching  when  it  would  be  entirely 
abolished;  secondly,  that  even  that  stated  worship 
which  had  been  devoid  of  a  ceremonial,  typical  and 
ritualistic  character,  would,  under  the  influences  to  be 
exerted  upon  the  people  of  God  in  the  dispensation 
about  to  be  inaugurated,  become  more  spiritual  than 
ever.  These  lessons  the  Lord  Jesus  manifestly  incul- 
cated, and  they  justify  the  inferences:  that  as  instru- 
mental music  was  a  peculiar  appendage  of  the  temple 
it  would  pass  away  with  it ;  and  that,  as  it  was  absent 
from  the  synagogue,  the  Christian  church,  which  was 
destined  to  be  more  spiritual  in  its  worship  than  was 
even  that  unceremonial  and  untypical  institute,  could 
not  consistently  with  its  advanced  nature  and  office  in- 
troduce it  into  its  services.  It  would  suppose  in  the 
church  of  the  New  Testament  a  lower  degree  of  spirit- 
uality in  worship  than  was  possessed  by  that  of  the  Old. 
Furthermore,  our  Lord,  in  issuing  to  his  apostles,  just 
before  his  ascension  to  glory,  the  great  commission 
which  contemplated  the  evangelization  of  the  world,  im- 
posed upon  them  this  solemn  obligation:  "Teaching 
them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  com- 
manded you."  This  injunction  of  the  Prophet  and 
King  of  the  church  involved  three  things :  first,  that 
the  apostles,  in  their  oral  communications  and  in  their 
inspired  writings,  were  to  teach  all  those  things  which 
Christ  commanded ;  secondly,  that  they  were  to  teach 


A 1 U I  DM  -XT  FROM  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  Ill 

nothing  but  what  Christ  commanded;  and  thirdly,  that 
the  church  to  be  organized  by  them  was  to  obey  their 
teaching,  originated  and  enforced  by  the  authority  of 
Christ,  and  to  introduce  nothing  into  her  doctrine, 
polity  and  worship  which  was  not  either  expressly  or 
impliedly  warranted  by  the  command  of  Christ  as  re- 
flected by  apostolic  inculcation  and  example.  This  left 
the  church  no  discretion  in  regard  to  these  elements  of 
doctrine,  government  and  worship.  She  is  absolutely 
bound  by  Christ's  commands,  enounced  originally  by 
the  lips  of  the  apostles,  and  now  permanently  recorded 
in  his  inspired  Word.  She  is  obliged  to  do  all  that  he 
lias  commanded;  she  is  forbidden  to  do  anything  which 
he  has  not  commanded.  She  can  construct  no  new 
doctrine,  institute  no  new  element  of  government,  and 
decree  no  new  rites  and  ceremonies — introduce  no  new 
mode  of  worship.  The  inquiry,  what  discretionary 
power  the  church  possesses  in  the  sphere  of  worship, 
will  be  reserved  to  another  part  of  this  discussion.  It 
is  sufficient  now  to  say,  that  it  is  a  discretionary  power 
which  she  is  never  entitled  to  use  as  the  church,  but 
simply  as  an  organization  acting  under  secular  and  tem- 
poral conditions  belonging  to  all  human  societies.  It 
is  only  where  there  is  no  need,  perhaps  no  room,  for  a 
command  of  Christ — in  the  sphere  in  which  human 
wisdom,  the  natural  judgment  of  men,  is  competent  to 
act,  in  which  indeed  it  must  act,  it  is  only  here  that  the 
church  is,  from  the  very  necessity  of  the  case,  invested 
with  discretionary  power. 

The  qu<  «tion  now  being,  Did  Christ  command  the 

of  instrumental   music  in   Ids  church?  the  answer 

must    be.    He    did    not.      There  is   certainly  no   such 


112  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

command  on  record.  Nor  can  it  be  presumed.  The 
Lord  Jesus  knew  the  divine  decree  by  which  the  tem- 
porary services  of  the  temple  were  destined  to  be  abol- 
ished. He  himself  predicted  the  utter  destruction  of 
the  temple.  He  knew  perfectly  that  instrumental  music 
was  an  attachment  to  the  peculiar  and  distinctive  ser- 
vices of  the  temple,  and  therefore  he  knew  that  it  must 
share  the  wreck  to  which  the  temple  with  all  those 
services  was  doomed.  Did  he  authorize  his  church  to 
save  instrumental  music  from  the  ruins,  and  employ  it 
in  her  worship  ?  He  did  not.  Is  she  then  warranted 
to  do  it?     Assuredly  not. 

Our  Lord,  as  a  man,  was  perfectly  familiar  with  the 
worship  of  the  synagogue.  It  is  said  that  there  were 
in  his  day  at  least  four  hundred  and  fifty  synagogues 
in  the  great  city  of  Jerusalem  itself,  churches  in  which 
the  population  worshipped  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath, 
just  as  a  Christian  people  now  worship  in  theirs.  His 
custom  was  to  attend  the  synagogue  wherever  in  his 
blessed  itinerancy  he  chanced  to  be.  He  full  well  knew 
the  absence  of  instrumental  music  from  its  services,  and 
he  knew  that  his  church,  when  established  as  such, 
would  follow  the  precedents  of  stated  Sabbath  worship, 
which  reached  immemorially  back  through  the  history 
of  his  ancient  people.  Did  he  leave  a  command  to  his 
church  to  depart  from  that  order,  and  introduce  instru- 
mental music  into  its  stated  Sabbath  worship?  He 
did  not ;  and  the  defect  of  such  a  command  is  sufficient 
to  settle  the  question. 

These  considerations,  did  they  need  confirmation, 
would  find  it  in  the  actual  practice  of  our  Lord.  We 
are  informed  that  he  sang  psalms  with  his  disciples. 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  113 

On  tlui  fatal  night  in  which  he  was  betrayed,  he  closed 
the  affecting  solemnity  of  instituting  the  sacrament  of 
the  supper  with  singing.  "And  when  they  had  sung 
an  hymn,"  say  two  of  the  evangelists  in  identically  the 
same  language,  "they  went  out  into  the  Mount  of 
Olives;*'  and  the  writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
in  the  wonderful  chapter  in  which  he  argues  the  neces- 
sity of  the  incarnation — the  community  of  nature  be- 
twixt Christ  and  his  brethren,  touchingly  portrays  him 
as  discharging  the  office  of  their  preacher  and  of  their 
precentor,  saving,  "I  will  declare  thy  name  unto  my 
brethren,  in  the  midst  of  the  church  will  I  sing  praise 
unto  thee."  Nothing  do  we  hear  of  instruments  of 
music;  but.  as  Justin  Martyr,  or  the  pseudo-Justin, 
>ays  <»f  the  psalmody  of  the  early  church,  only  "sim- 
ple singing."  De  Quincey1  has  contemptuously  repre- 
sented the  singing  of  the  English  Dissenters  "as  a 
howling  wilderness  of  psalmody."  He  might  have 
spared  his  ridicule,  had  he  reflected  that  one  of  the 
clerks  who  have  led  that  kind  of  singing  was  Jesus 
Christ  himself.  But  "vain  man  would  be  wise,  though 
man  be  born  like  a  wild  ass's  colt."  He  has,  with  mag- 
nificent  rhetoric,  described  "the  swell  of  the  anthem, 
the  burst  of  the  hallelujah  chorus,  the  storm,  the  tramp- 
ling movement  of  the  choral  passion,  .  .  .  the  tumult 
of  the  choir,  the  wrath  of  the  organ."  Perchance  he 
wrote  better  than  he  knew,  when  he  represented  the 
organ  as  bringing  forth  wrath;  and  his  prelatical  scom 
for  Christ's  humble  and  obedient  people,  as  well  as  his 
splendid  rhetoric  in  glorifying  the  pomps  of  cathedral- 

1  Writings,  Vol.  i.  p.  224;  Boston:  Tiekuor,  lteed  and  Fields,  1851. 


114  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

service,  may  be  offsetted  by  the  following  passage  from 
the  coryphaeus  of  British  liberty:2  "In  times  of  oppo- 
sition, when  either  against  new  heresies  arising,  or  old 
corruptions  to  be  reformed,  this  cool  unpassionate  mild- 
ness of  positive  wisdom  is  not  enough  to  damp  and 
astonish  the  proud  resistance  of  carnal  and  false  doc- 
tors, then  (that  I  may  have  leave  to  soar  awhile  as  poets 
use)  Zeal,  whose  substance  is  ethereal,  arming  in  com- 
plete diamond,  ascends  his  fiery  chariot  drawn  with  two 
blazing  meteors,  figured  like  beasts  out  of  a  higher 
breed  than  any  the  zodiac  yields,  resembling  two  of 
those  four  which  Ezekiel  and  St.  John  saw ;  the  one 
visaged  like  a  lion,  to  express  power,  high  authority  and 
indignation,  the  other  of  countenance  like  a  man,  to  cast 
derision  and  scorn  upon  perverse  and  fraudulent  se- 
ducers :  with  these  the  invincible  warrior,  Zeal,  shaking 
loosely  the  slack  reins,  drives  over  the  heads  of  scarlet 
prelates,  and  such  as  are  insolent  to  maintain  traditions, 
bruising  their  stiff  necks  under  his  flaming  wheels." 
Or,  we  may  listen  to  the  rolling  thunder  of  a  mightier 
rhetoric  than  De  Quincey  or  Milton  wielded — a  thun- 
der that,  like  the  angry  growl  of  a  coming  storm,  pre- 
ludes the  doom  of  that  apostate  mother  from  whose 
fertile  womb  have  crept  the  monstrous  corruptions 
which  have  slimed  the  purity  of  Christ's  fair  and  glo- 
rious bride  :  "  Babylon  the  great  is  fallen,  is  fallen,  and 
is  become  the  habitation  of  devils,  and  the  hold  of  every 
foul  spirit,  and  a  cage  of  every  unclean  and  hateful 
bird.  .  .  .  Alas,  alas,  that  great  city,  that  was  clothed 
in  fine  linen,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  decked  with 

2  Milton's  Prose  Works.  Vol.  i.,  p.  135;  Philadelphia:  John  W.  Moore. 
1847. 


ARGUMENT  FROM    THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  115 

gold,  and  precious  stones,  and  pearls!  .  .  .  Rejoice 
over  her,  tlion  heaven,  and  ye  holy  apostles  and  pro- 
plats;  for  God  hath  avenged  yon  on  her.  .  .  .  And  the 
voice  of  harpers,  and  of  musicians,  and  of  pipers,  and 
trumpeters,  shall  be  heard  no  more  in  thee.  .  .  .  And 
after  these  things  T  heard  a  great  voice  of  much  people 
in  heaven,  saying,  Alleluia ;  salvation,  and  glory,  and 
honor,  and  power,  unto  the  Lord  our  God:  for  true 
and  righteous  are  his  judgments:  for  he  hath  judged 
the  great  whore,  which  did  corrupt  the  earth  with  her 
fornication,  and  hath  avenged  the  blood  of  his  servants 
at  her  hand.  And  again  they  said,  Alleluia.  And  her 
smoke  rose  up  forever  and  ever." 

%  The  teaching  of  the  apostles  excluded  instru- 
mental music  from  tin4  public  worship  of  the  church. 

Among  the  parts  of  that  worship  which  are  enu- 
merated in  the  New  Testament  the  singing  of  praise  is 
included,  but  not  instrumental  music.  The  passages 
which  are  relevant  are:  1  Cor.  xiv.  26:  "How  is  it 
then,  brethren?  when  ye  come  together,  every  one  of 
you  hath  a  psalm,  hath  a  doctrine,  hath  a  tongue,  hath 
a  revelation,  hath  an  interpretation.  Let  all  things  be 
done  unto  edifying."  Eph.  v.  11):  "Speaking  to  your- 
selves in  psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  sing- 
ing and  making  melody  in  your  hearts  to  the  Lord." 
CoL  iii.  16:  "Teaching  and  admonishing  one  another 
in  psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  singing  with 
grace  in  your  hearts  t<>  the  Lord." 

"The  cause  of  all  the  contention/1  s;iy>  the  Rev.  A. 
Cromar,1  ''is  in  the  fact,  that  the  word  psalm  and  the 
word  translated  making  melody,  suggest  at  once  to  the 

1  Vindication  of  the  Organ,  pp.  93,  94. 


116  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

mind  the  idea  of  instrumental  music.  A  psalm  is  with 
propriety  defined,  a  sacred  ode  designed  to  be  sung  to 
the  accompaniment  of  the  lyre,  and  the  word  rendered 
making  melody  literally  signifies,  to  strike  the  string  of 
the  same  instrument.  Taking  the  words  in  their  sim- 
plicity, the  passage,  as  far  as  music  is  concerned,  seems 
to  consist  of  two  parts — the  one  enjoining  the  general 
duty  of  praise  in  compositions  sung  either  with  or  with- 
out an  instrumental  accompaniment ;  and  the  other  par- 
ticularly stating  that  praise,  whether  it  be  with  or  with- 
out instrumental  guidance,  must  always  be  of  true  gos- 
pel character,  that  is,  must  be  an  exercise  of  the  heart.  If 
this,  the  most  probable,  be  also  the  true,  sense  of  the  pas- 
sage (Eph.  v.  19) ;  then  we  have  in  it  what  the  Mends 
of  the  organ  believe  to  be  the  divine  mind  in  the  mat- 
ter." 

The  weight  of  scholarly  authority  is  certainly  against 
Mr.  Cromar,  and  those  who,  like  him,  would  twist  these 
passages  to  the  support  of  instrumental  music  in  the 
public  worship  of  the  church.  Dr.  James  Begg,  in 
noticing  the  exception  taken  by  an  anonymous  writer 
to  our  translation  of  the  Bible,  and  his  affirmation,  with 
others,  that  faXXao  radically  signifies  playing  on  a 
stringed  musical  instrument,  has  these  remarks  which 
are  worthy  of  attention  : l  "  This  attempt  to  fix  the  mean- 
ing of  the  word  as  implying  playing  instead  of  singing, 
as  used  by  the  New  Testament  writers,  was  thoroughly 
set  aside  by  Dr.  Porteous,  by  a  variety  of  evidence,  one 
part  of  which  is  thus  concluded :  '  From  these  quota- 
tions from  the  Greek  fathers,  the  three  first  of  whom 
flourished  in  the  fourth  century — men  of  great  erudi- 

lT7ie  Use  of  Organs,  p.  264,  ff. 


AKOUMENT  FROM  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  117 

tion,  well  skilled  in  the  phraseology  and  language  of 
Scripture,  perfectly  masters  of  the  Greek  tongue,  which 
was  then  written  and  spoken  with  purity  in  the  coun- 
fcries  where  they  resided;  men,  too,  who  for  conscience 
sake  would  not  handle  the  Word  of  God  deceitfully,  it  is 
evident  that  the  Greek  word  faWco  signified  in  their 
time  singing  with  the  voice  alone.  Had  they  conceived 
otherwise,  we  may  be  assure'1  that  they  had  both  suffi- 
cient firmness  of  mind  and  influence  in  the  church  to 
have  induced  their  hearers  to  have  used  the  harp  and 
psaltery  in  the  public  worship  of  God.' 

"It  is  curious  to  observe  how  constantly,  and  with 
what  pretence  of  learning,  mistakes  are  repeated.  In  a 
late  discussion,  the  correctness  of  our  authorized  trans- 
lation of  James  v.  13  was  confidently  called  in  question, 
and  it  was  affirmed  that  i^aWeTco  meant  to  strike  as  on 
the  lyre,  and  that  the  passage  ought  not  to  have  been 
translated  'let  him  sing  psalms,'  but  'let  him  play  on 
an  instrument.'  The  issue  thus  raised  is  a  very  broad 
and  important  one,  being  neither  more  nor  less  than 
whether  instrumental  music  is  divinely  appointed  in 
Christian  worship.  It  indicates,  at  all  events,  how  far 
some  hymnologists  are  prepared  to  go.  If  this  idea  is 
correct,  the  Christian  church  in  the  early  ages  had  en- 
tirely mistaken  the  meaning  of  inspired  men,  and  so 
has  <>nr  church  [the  Scottish  |  since  the  Reformation. 
We  affirm,  however,  that  tpaXXirao  in  James  can  mean 
nothing  else  than  'let  him  sing  psalms.'  The  substan- 
tive if-<r\f.ios  occurs  not  oftener  than  seven  times  in  the 
New  Testament;  and  its  use  there,  apart  from  other 
evidence,  would  be  sufficient  to  determine  the  meaning 
of  the  verb  i/aXXco.  The  noun  occurs  three  times  (Luke 
ii 


118  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

xx.  42,  xxiv.  44;  Acts  i.  20),  where  it  refers  to  the  book 
of  Psalms;  once  (Acts  xiii.  33),  where  it  refers  to  the 
second  psalm;  twice  (Eph.  v.  19;  Col.  iii.  16),  where 
with  other  two  words  the  rendering  is  '  psalms,  hymns, 
and  spiritual  songs ';  and  once  (1  Cor.  xiv.  26), '  When  ye 
come  together,  every  one  of  yon  hath  a  psalm.'  In  re- 
gard to  the  verb  itself,  besides  the  passage  in  James 
and  in  Ephesians  v.  19,  just  referred  to,  ipaXkao  only 
occurs  three  times  in  the  New  Testament;  twice  (1  Cor. 
xiv.  15),  where  its  use  absolutely  excludes  instrumental 
music,  and  must  imply  singing  inspired  (?)  songs  or 
psalms — 'I  will  sing  with  the  spirit,  and  I  will  sing 
with  the  understanding  also;'  and  once  (Rom.  xv.  9), 
'  As  it  is  written,  For  this  cause  I  will  confess  to  thee 
among  the  Gentiles,  and  sing  unto  thy  name.'  It  is  inter- 
esting to  notice  that  the  latter  passage  is  exactly  copied 
from  the  Septuagint  (Ps.  xviii.  49),  and  this  affords  a 
striking  proof  of  the  correctness  of  the  rendering  for 
which  we  are  now  contending.  As  thus  quoted  by  the 
apostle,  we  have  an  inspired  rendering  into  the  Greek 
verb  ipaXXcj  of  a  Hebrew  word  which  is  usually  trans- 
lated '  sing  praises '  or  '  sing  psalms.'  '  Singing  psalms ' 
was  the  only  authorized  vocal  praise  of  the  church  of 
old.  The  question  now,  as  every  one  knows,  is  not 
about  the  roots  or  the  original  meaning  of  words,  but 
about  the  sense  in  which  they  were  used  by  the  inspired 
writers;  ipaXXoo  never  occurs  in  the  New  Testament,  in 
its  radical  signification,  to  strike  or  play  upon  an  instru- 
ment. 

"The  forty  or  fifty  high  scholars  of  England  through 
whose  hands  the  authorized  version  of  our  Scriptures 
passed,  were  thoroughly  acquainted  with  these  things, 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  119 

and  Beldom  fail,  in  matters  of  the  least  importance,  to 
give,  either  in  tht1  text  or  in  the  margin,  a  correct  ver- 
sion of  the  original  language — although,  of  course,  they 
were  not  infallible.  In  connection  with  this,  it  is  not 
uninteresting,  however,  to  observe  how  fully  the  cor- 
rectness of  our  authorized  version  is  confirmed  by 
Luther  and  the  early  Reformers.  Luther  translates 
/JaWtTO)  (Jam.  v.  13)  'der  singe  psalmen;'  Wickliffe, 
'  and  seye  he  a  salm  ; '  Tyndale,  '  let  him  singe  psalmes ; ' 
and  Oranmer,  'let  him  synge  psalms.'  Dean  Alford, 
too,  among  recent  critics,  strong  Episcopalian  as  he  is, 
and  interested  in  vindicating  instrumental  music,  ren- 
ders the  word  'let  him  sing  praise.'  Mr.  Young,  in  his 
translation  of  the  Bible  'according  to  the  letter  and 
idioms  of  the  original  languages,'  renders  the  passage, 
'let  him  sing  psalms;'  and  Dr.  Giles,  late  Fellow  of 
Christ  Church  College,  Oxford,  in  his  New  Testament, 
'translated  word  for  word,'  London,  1861,  also  renders 
it,  'let  him  sing  psalms.'" 

There  is  no  need  to  multiply  authorities.  All  com- 
mentators admit  that  psalms  primarily  designated  sa- 
cred odes  which  were  suited  to  be  accompanied,  when 
sung,  by  instruments  of  music.  But  the  great  majority 
concur  in  holding  that  the  secondary  sense,  of  sacred 
compositions  to  be  sung,  is  that  in  which  the  word  is 
used  in  the  New  Testament.  How  could  it  be  other- 
wise with  men  who  had  learning  enough  to  know,  that 
instrumental  music  was  excluded  from  the  public  wor- 
ship of  the  apostolic  church?  If  it  be  urged  that  this 
is  begging  the  question,  and  proof  !><•  demanded,  the 
appeal  is  taken,  first,  to  the  preceding  argument;  and, 
secondly ,  to  the  practice  of  the  post-apostolic  church. 


120  INSTEUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

If  the  apostles  had  allowed  the  employment  of  instru- 
mental music  in  the  church,  it  is  morally  certain,  from 
the  very  constitution  of  human  nature,  that  it  would 
have  continued  to  be  used  subsequently  to  their  time. 
But  it  was  not;  and  its  absence  can  be  accounted  for 
only  on  the  ground  that  the  New  Testament  Church  had 
never  adopted  it.  If  it  had  been  in  use  under  the  apos- 
tles, its  ejection  could  only  have  been  accomplished  by 
a  revolutionary  change  which  would  have  been  a  revolt 
from  apostolic  practice.  Such  a  supposition  is  on  every 
account  absurd — indeed  is  impossible.  The  proof  that 
the  early  church  knew  nothing  of  instrumental  music 
it  is  proposed  to  furnish  in  a  subsequent  part  of 
this  discussion.  Its  presentation  is,  therefore,  post- 
poned. 

Even  if  the  foregoing  argument  from  the  New  Testa- 
ment Scriptures  had  only  a  respectable  degree  of  proba- 
bility, it  would  seem  to  be  preposterous  to  attempt  its 
refutation  by  a  single  ambiguous  word — a  word  con- 
ceded by  those  who  take  that  position  themselves  to 
have  both  an  original  and  a  secondary  signification. 
As,  further,  it  is  not  pleaded  that  the  words  "hymns 
and  spiritual  songs"  imply  the  accompaniment  of  in- 
struments, they  who  stand  on  the  primary  sense  of  the 
word  psalms  would  be  obliged  to  admit  that  some  of  the 
singing  of  the  apostolic  church  was  accompanied  by  in- 
strumental music  and  some  was  not.  When  they  suc- 
ceed in  proving  that  such  was  the  case,  they  may  with 
some  plausibility  claim  the  surrender  of  their  opponents. 
Is  it  not  evident  that  the  argument  which  rests  on  the 
single  word  psalms  swings  on  a  rickety  hinge? 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  121 

5.  The  only  other  argument  from  the  New  Testament 
Scriptures  will  be  derived  from  the  condemnation  which 
they  pronounce  upon  "will-worship."     Will-worship  is 

that  which  is  not  commanded  by  God,  but  devised 
by  man.  We  have  seen  that  God  commanded  instru- 
mental music  to  be  employed  in  connection  with  the 
temple.  It  was,  therefore,  in  that  relation  not  an  ele- 
ment of  will-worship.  It  was  of  course  legitimate.  But 
had  the  Jew  employed  it  in  the  synagogue,  he  would 
have  been  guilty  of  the  sin  of  will-worship.  Why? 
Because,  without  the  divine  warrant  he  would  have 
asserted  his  own  will  in  regard  to  the  public  worship 
of  God.  Now  that  the  temple  is  gone,  all  that  was 
peculiar  to  it  is  gone  with  it.  To  revive  any  of  its  de- 
funct services,  and  borrow  them  from  its  ruins  for  the 
ornamentation  of  the  Christian  church,  is  an  instance 
of  will-worship.  The  general  principle  is  enounced  by 
Paul  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians,  although  he  ap- 
plies it  specifically  to  a  certain  class  of  cases.  "  Where- 
fore," says  he,  "if  ye  be  dead  with  Christ  from  the 
rudiments  of  the  world,  why,  as  though  living  in  the 
world,  are  ye  subject  to  ordinances,  (Touch  not;  taste 
not ;  handle  not ;  which  are  all  to  perish  with  the 
using ;)  after  the  commandments  and  doctrines  of  men  ? 
which  things  have  indeed  a  shew  of  wisdom  in  will- 
worship,  and  humility,  and  neglecting  of  the  body;  not 
in  any  honor  to  the  satisfying  of  the  flesh."  Instru- 
mental music,  as  has  been  proved,  was  one  of  the  rudi- 
ments of  that  ceremonial  ami  typical  ritual  by  which  it 
pleased  God  to  train  the  Israelites,  as  children  in  a  pre- 
paratory school,  for  the  manhood  of  the  Christian  dis- 
pensation with  its  glorious  privileges  and  its  expanded 


122       instrumental  Music  in  church  worship. 

responsibilities.  This  was  the  view  of  even  Aquinas 
and  Bellarmin.  He,  therefore,  who  would  import  that 
effete  element  into  the  Church  of  the  New  Dispensa- 
tion would  impugn  the  wisdom  of  God,  assert  his  will 
against  the  divine  authority,  and  abandon  the  freedom 
of  Christ  for  the  bondage  of  Moses. 


IV. 

Argument  from  the  Presbyterian  Standards. 

In  arguing  against  the  use  of  instrumental  music  in 
public  worship  from  the  Presbyterian  standards — that 
is,  the  formularies  of  doctrine,  government  and  worship 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church — I  desire  it  to  be  distinctly 
understood  that  they  are  not  viewed  or  treated  as  an 
authority  independent  of  the  inspired  Word  of  God. 
All  the  authority  which  they  possess — every  whit  of  it — 
is  derived  from  that  Word.  Apart  from  it  they  have 
none.  In  the  first  place,  as  human  compositions  they 
may  or  may  not  exactly  accord  with  the  Scriptures  and 
faithfully  represent  their  meaning.  So  far  as  they  do, 
and  only  so  far  as  they  do,  they  are  clothed  with  the 
authority  of  the  divine  Word  itself,  and  as  every  Chris- 
tian admits  that  the  authority  of  that  Word  is  binding 
upon  all  men,  they,  to  that  extent,  confessedly  exercise 
a  controlling  authority  upon  all  men.  In  the  second 
place,  the  members,  and  especially  the  officers  of  that 
church  of  which  they  arc  a  directory  of  faith  and  prac- 
<n\  over  and  beyond  this  genera]  obligation  which 
upon  all  men,  under  a  special  obligation  resulting 
from  their  voluntary  acceptance  of  these  standards  as 
a  true  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures,  and  from  their 
covenanted  agreement  with  their  brethren  of  the  same 
faith  and  order  t<>  be  governed  by  them  as  the  consti- 
tution of  their  ehurcli.     It  is,  therefore,  with  reference 


124  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

to  them,  not  exclusively,  but  in  a  very  special  sense, 
that,  in  the  construction  and  development  of  this  par- 
ticular argument,  the  appeal  is  made  to  the  Presbyte- 
rian standards.  I  speak  as  unto  wise  men ;  let  them 
judge  what  may  be  said  in  relation  to  this  venerable 
tribunal. 

Let  it  be  also  noticed  that,  in  pursuing  this  particu- 
lar line  of  argument,  it  is  by  no  means  claimed  that 
new  material  proofs  are  derived  from  these  formularies. 
The  proofs  have  already  been  presented  from  the  Scrip- 
tures, both  of  the  Old  Testament  and  of  the  New,  and 
the  conclusion  which  they  justify  has  already  been 
reached  and  enounced.  The  present  appeal  is  to  the 
standards  as  clearly  summing  up  the  scriptural  proofs 
and  definitely  enforcing  the  conclusion,  and  as  having 
a  peculiar  authority  for  those  who,  in  the  conflict  of  re- 
ligious opinions,  have  adopted  them  as,  in  their  judg- 
ment, a  correct  statement  and  exposition  of  the  law  of 
the  Lord.  But  in  addition  to  this,  let  it  be  remarked, 
these  standards  clearly  define  the  limitations  upon  such 
discretionary  power  in  the  sphere  of  worship,  and  in 
every  other  sphere,  as  is  to  be  conceded  to  the  church. 
They  define  it  both  negatively — declaring  what  it  is 
not ;  and  positively — declaring  what  it  is ;  and  it  is  in 
this  especial  regard  that  the  reference  to  their  author- 
ity is  invested  with  interest  and  importance. 

1.  Instrumental  music  is,  by  good  and  necessary 
consequence,  excluded  from  the  public  worship  of  the 
church  by  the  exposition  which  the  Catechisms  furnish 
of  the  Second  Commandment.  In  the  citation  of  their 
words,  only  such  will  be  adduced  as  bear  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  worship  and  are  relevant  to  the  question  in  hand. 


AB6UMENT  PROM  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  STANDARDS.    125 

"  What,"  asks  the  Larger  Catechism,1  "are  the  duties 
required  in  the  Beoond  commandment?"  "The  duties 
required  in  the  second  commandment  are  the  receiving, 
observing,  and  keeping  pure  and  entire  all  such  reli- 
gious worship  and  ordinances  as  God  hath  instituted  in 
his  Word.  .  .  .  Also,  the  disapproving,  detesting,  op- 
posing all  false  worship,  and,  according  to  each  one's 
place  and  calling,  removing  it." 

"What  are  the  sins  forbidden  in  the  second  com- 
mandment V  "  "  The  sins  forbidden  in  the  second  com- 
mandment are  :  All  devising,  counselling,  commanding, 
using,  and  any  wise  approving  any  religious  worship 
not  instituted  by  God  himself;  .  .  .  all  superstitious  de- 
vices, corrupting  the  worship  of  God,  adding  to  it  or 
taking  from  it,  whether  invented  and  taken  up  of  our- 
selves or  received  by  tradition  from  others,  though  un- 
der the  title  of  antiquity,  custom,  devotion,  good  intent, 
or  any  other  pretence  whatsoever ;  .  .  .  all  neglect,  con- 
tempt, hindering,  and  opposing  the  worship  and  ordi- 
nances which  God  hath  appointed." 

""What  are  the  reasons  annexed  to  the  second  com- 
mandment, the  more  to  enforce  it  ?  "  "  The  reasons 
annexed  to  the  second  commandment,  the  more  to  en- 
force it,  contained  in  these  words,  For  I  the  Lord  thy 
God  am  a  jealous  God,  visiting  the  iniquity  of  the 
fathers  upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth 
generation  of  them  that  hate  me:  and  showing  mercy 
unto  thousands  of  them  that  love  me  and  keep  my 
commandments;  are,  besid<  -  God's  sovereignty  over  us 
and  propriety  in  us,  his  fen,  nt  zeal  for  his  own  wor- 
ship,  and  his   revengeful    indignation  against  all  false 

1  Questions  108,  10»,  110. 


126  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

worship,  as  being  a  spiritual  whoredom ;  accounting 
the  breakers  of  this  commandment  such  as  hate  him, 
and  threatening  to  punish  them  unto  divers  genera- 
tions, and  esteeming  the  observers  of  it  such  as  love 
him  and  keep  his  commandments,  and  promising  mercy 
to  them  unto  many  generations." 

The  Shorter  Catechism1  thus  condenses  these  state- 
ments of  the  Larger:  "The  second  commandment  re- 
quireth  the  receiving,  observing  and  keeping  pure  and 
entire  all  such  religious  worship  and  ordinances  as  God 
hath  appointed  in  his  Word."  It  "forbiddeth  the  wor- 
shipping of  God  by  images,  or  any  other  way  not  ap- 
pointed in  his  Word."  "The  reasons  annexed  .  .  .  are, 
God's  sovereignty  over  us,  his  propriety  in  us,  and  the 
zeal  he  hath  to  his  own  worship." 

Let  us  attentively  consider  the  features  of  this  com- 
mandment which  are  signalized  by  these  formularies : 

(1.)  The  zeal  and  jealousy,  fervent  and  lasting,  which 
God  manifests  touching  everything  that  concerns  his 
worship.  This  is  suited  to  arrest  our  notice,  and  to 
alarm  and  restrain  those  who  assert  their  right  to  de- 
cree rites  and  ceremonies,  and  to  regulate  divine  wor- 
ship according  to  their  own  judgment  and  taste  as  to 
what  is  fitting  and  decorous  in  the  services  of  the  Lord's 
house.  He  himself  stands  guard  over  his  own  sanctu- 
ary, and,  armed  with  bolts  of  vengeance,  threatens  with 
condign  punishment  the  invaders  of  his  prerogative,  the 
usurpers  of  his  rights.  We  have  seen  how  awfully  this 
lesson  was  enforced  under  the  old  dispensation,  how 
swiftly,  like  lightning,  his  judgments  flashed  against 
rash  and  insolent  assertors  of  their  own  will  in  regard 

1  Questions  50,  51,  52. 


ABGUMENT  FROM  Till'.  PRESBYTERIAN  STANDARDS.     127 

to  the  mode  in  which  he  was  to  be  worshipped,  and 

how  severely  he  dealt  with  his  own  choicest  and  holiest 
servants  for  departures  from  his  prescriptions  in  this 
•matter.  This  vehement  zeal  and  jealousy  of  God  for 
the  purity  of  his  worship  should  deter  us  from  ventur- 
ing out4  step  beyond  the  directions  of  his  Word.  Who, 
for  the  sake  of  the  ornaments  of  art  and  the  suggestions 
of  fancy,  would  unnecessarily  challenge  the  visitations 
of  his  wrath?  In  this  dispensation  he  is  patient  and 
forbearing,  hut  who  will  coolly  elect  to  go,  with  the  un- 
eipunged  guilt  of  encroaching  upon  the  sovereignty  of 
God  over  the  worship  of  his  house,  to  the  tremendous 
bar  of  last  accounts? 

(2.)  The  great  principle  is  here  brought  out  and  em- 
phasized, that  not  only  is  what  God  has  positively 
commanded  to  be  obeyed,  but  what  he  has  not  com- 
manded is  forbidden.  The  law  is,  not  that  we  are  at 
liberty  to  act  when  God  has  not  spoken,  but  just  the 
contrary  :  we  have  no  right  to  act  when  he  is  silent.  It 
will  not  answer  to  say  in  justification  of  some  element 
of  worship  that  God  has  not  expressly  prohibited  it ; 
we  must  produce  a  divine  warrant  for  it.  The  absence 
of  such  a  warrant  is  an  interdiction.  The  exposition 
of  the  second  commandment  enforces  the  obligation, 
Dot  "iily  t<>  receive,  observe  and  keep  pure  and  entire 
all  such  religious  worship  and  ordinances  as  God  Ixith 
instituted  in  his  Word,  but  also  not  to  devise,  counsel, 
Command,    use    and    any    wise    approve    any    religious 

worship  not  instituted  by  God  himself.     The  instance. 

already  commented  on,  of  Nadab  and  Abihu,  the  sons 
of  Aaron,  God's  venerable  high  priest,  is  exactly  in 
point.     They  were  visited  with  summary  judgment,  as 


128  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

we  are  explicitly  told,  for  performing  a  function  in  wor- 
ship which  God  had  not  commanded.  We  cannot 
without  guilt  transcend  divine  appointments.  No  dis- 
cretion is  allowed  the  church  to  introduce  into  public- 
worship  what  God  himself  has  not  instituted  and  ap- 
pointed. He  has  not  constituted  her  his  vicegerent 
or  his  confidsntial  agent.  She  is  intrusted  with  no 
powers  plenipotentiary.  She  acts  under  instructions, 
and  is  required  to  adhere  to  the  text  of  her  commis- 
sion. 

The  application  to  instrumental  music  in  the  public 
worship  of  the  church  is  plain.  It  was  permissible,  as 
has  been  shown,  only  when  God  commanded  it,  and 
he  commanded  it  in  connection  with  the  typical  and 
temporary  services  of  the  temple.  He  did  not  com- 
mand it  to  be  used  in  the  ordinary  Sabbath  worship  of 
the  synagogue,  and  accordingly  it  was  not  employed  in 
that  institute.  The  Jew  obeyed  the  divine  will  in  that 
respect.  God  did  not  command  it  to  be  introduced 
into  the  Christian  church,  and  in  conformity  with  his 
will  it  was  not  employed  in  the  apostolic  or  the  early 
church.  It  was  not  known  in  the  church  for  centuries. 
It  was,  as  will  be  shown,  a  late  importation  into  its 
services — an  importation  effected  without  divine  autho- 
rization, and  therefore  in  the  face  of  the  divine  will. 
If  our  exposition  of  the  second  commandment  is  valid — 
and  ice  acknowledge  it  to  be  both  valid  and  au- 
thoritative— we  violate  that  commandment  when  we 
employ  instrumental  music  in  public  worship,  because 
we  devise,  counsel,  command,  use  and  approve  a  mode 
of  "  religious  worship  not  instituted  by  God  himself." 
That  God  did  not  institute  it,  either  in  connection  with 


ABOUMENT  PROM  THE  rRESBYTERIAX  STANDARDS.      129 

the  Jewish  synagogue  or  with  the  Christian  church, 
has  been  irrefragably  proved. 

These  things  being  so,  we  cannot,  in  accordance  with 
the  requirements  of  this  commandment,  acquiesce  in 
the  employment  of  instrumental  music  in  the  public 
worship  of  the  church.  No  "  title  of  antiquity,  custom, 
devotion,  good  intent,  or  any  other  pretence  whatso- 
ever." will  justify  or  excuse  us.  It  will  not  avail  us  to 
plead  that  we  found  it  in  use,  and  are  not  called  upon 
to  urge  or  enact  revolutionary  measures.  We  are  bound 
to  disapprove,  detest,  oppose  all  false  worship,  and  as 
this  is  in  that  category,  to  disapprove,  detest  and  op- 
pose it.  The  argument  to  prove  its  want  of  divine 
warrant  must  be  overthrown  before  the  position  of  in- 
action and  acquiescence  can  be  conscientiously  main- 
tained. Nor  will  it  do  to  say  that  we  have  not  ex- 
amined the  question — that  we  do  not  know.  We  ought 
to  examine,  we  ought  to  know,  for  as  Presbyterians  our 
standards  plainly  expound  to  us  the  divine  law  on  the 
subject,  and  as  Christians  we  have  no  right  to  be  igno- 
rant of  the  teaching  of  Scripture  in  regard  to  it.  "  To 
the  law  and  to  the  testimony;  if  they  speak  not  ac- 
cording to  them,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light  in 
them." 

The  principle,  thus  strongly  emphasized  by  the  ex- 
position of  the  second  commandment,  that  a  divine  war- 
rant is  required  for  everything  entering  into  the  wor- 
ship of  God,  is  also  enounced  and  enforced  in  the  fol- 
lowing utterances  of  the  Confession  of  Faith:  "God 
alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience,  and  hath  left  it  free 
from  the  doctrines  and  commandments  of  men  which 
are  in  any  thing  contrary  to  his  Word,  or  beside  it  in 
12 


130  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

matters  of  faith  and  worship."  x  "The  acceptable  way 
of  worshipping  the  true  God  is  instituted  by  himself, 
and  so  limited  by  his  own  revealed  will,  that  he  may 
not  be  worshipped  according  to  the  imaginations  and 
devices  of  men,  or  the  suggestions  of  Satan,  under  any 
visible  representation,  or  any  otJter  way  not  prescribed 
in  the  Holy  Scripture.'"  2  In  these  words  the  Confes- 
sion declares,  that  the  conscience  is  left  free  to  reject 
the  teaching  of  any  doctrines  and  the  authority  of  any 
commandments  which  are  beside  the  Word  of  God  in 
the  matter  of  worship  ;  and  that  it  is  not  permissible  to 
worship  him  in  any  way  not  prescribed  in  the  Scrip- 
tures. If,  as  has  been  evinced,  instrumental  music  in 
public  worship  was  in  the  Old  Testament  only  pre- 
scribed as  an  appendage  of  the  temple,  and  was  not  pre- 
scribed in  connection  with  the  synagogue,  and  is  not 
prescribed  in  the  New  Testament,  it  is  obviously  beside 
the  Word  of  God,  destitute  of  his  authority,  and  there- 
fore to  be  rejected. 

2.  Instrumental  music  is  excluded  from  the  public 
worship  of  God's  house  by  the  declarations  of  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith  and  the  Directory  for  Worship  concern- 
ing singing. 

The  Confession  of  Faith,  in  enumerating  the  "parts 
of  the  ordinary  religious  worship  of  God,"  specifies 
"singing  of  psalms  with  grace  in  the  heart."  The  Di- 
rectory for  WorshijD  thus  speaks:  "It  is  the  duty  of 
Christians  to  praise  God  by  singing  psalms."  "The 
proportion  of  the  time  of  public  worship  to  be  spent 
in  singing  is  left  to  the  prudence  of  every  minister." 

(1.)  These  provisions  of  the  Confession  of  Faith  and 

1  Chap,  xx.,  sec.  2.  2  Chap,  xxi.,  sec.  1. 


AB0UMENT  PROM  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  BTANDABDS.    131 

the  Directory  for  Worship  exclude  Instrumental  music 
from  the  public  worship  of  the  church  which  acknow- 
ledges them  as  its  formularies,  in  accordance  with  the 
legal  maxim.  Expressio  unius  est  exclusio  dUerivs :  the 

express  statement  of  one  alternative  is  the  exclusion  of 
the  other.  If  two  men  were  supposed,  upon  probable 
grounds,  to  be  chargeable  with  the  same  offence,  the  in- 
dictment of  only  one  o\'  them  would  be  the  exclusion  of 
the  other  from  the  indictment.  No  formal  naming  of 
the  person  not  included  in  the  indictment  is  necessary. 
If  of  two  acts,  which  might  be  performed  under  given 
circumstances,  one  only  is  commanded  in  a  statute  to 
be  done,  the  other  is  excluded — it  is  not  commanded. 
And  so,  if  of  two  acts  which  might  be  done  under  given 
circumstances,  one  only  is  by  statute  permitted,  the 
other  is  excluded  from  the  permission — it  is  forbidden. 
To  apply  the  principle  to  the  case  in  hand  :  the  singing 
of  psalms  or  hymns  and  the  performance  of  instru- 
mental music  are  two  distinct  acts  which  may  be  done 
at  one  and  the  same  time.  The  ecclesiastical  law  com- 
mands only  one  of  these  acts  to  be  done  in  public  wor- 
ship.     It   follows   that    the    other  is  excluded— it  is  not 

commanded.  But  does  this,  it  may  be  asked,  rule  out 
the  other?  May  it  not  be  done,  although  not  com- 
manded? The  answer  is  to  be  found  in  the  great  prin- 
ciple, already  established  by  scriptural  proofs,  that  what 

Christ  has  not  commanded  to  be  observed,  men  have  no 
right  to  introduce  into  the  worship  of  his  church:  and 
who  acknowledge  the  ecclesiastical  law  which  is 
Appealed  to.  as  correctly  representing  or  rather  re- 
producing the  divine  law.  are  bound  to  hold  that  what 
the  ecclesiastical  law  does  not  authorize  cannot  be  legiti- 


132  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

mately  introduced  into  the  worship  of  the  church.  We 
have  seen  that  it  is  not  true  that  what  is  not  forbidden 
is  permitted,  but  on  the  contrary,  what  is  not  com- 
manded is  forbidden.  It  follows  that,  as  the  law  in  the 
Presbyterian  standards  does  authorize  singing  and  does 
not  authorize  instrumental  music,  the  latter  is  excluded. 
It  is  extra-legal,  and  therefore  contra-legal. 

(2.)  This  interpretation  of  the  law  in  the  standards 
is  confirmed  by  what  we  know  of  the  mind  and  inten- 
tion of  its  framers  in  regard  to  this  matter.  Before  the 
Westminister  Assembly  of  Divines  undertook  the  office 
of  preparing  a  Directory  for  Worship,  the  Parliament 
had  authoritatively  adopted  measures  looking  to  the  re- 
moval of  organs,  along  with  other  remains  of  Popery, 
from  the  churches  of  England.  On  the  20th  of  May, 
1644,  the  commissioners  from  Scotland  wrote  to  the 
General  Assembly  of  their  church  and  made  the  follow- 
ing statement  among  others:  "We  cannot  but  admire 
the  good  hand  of  God  in  the  great  things  done  here 
already,  particularly  that  the  covenant,  the  foundation 
of  the  whole  work,  is  taken,  Prelacy  and  the  whole  train 
thereof  extirpated,  the  service-book  in  many  places  for- 
saken, plain  and  powerful  preaching  set  up,  many  col- 
leges in  Cambridge  provided  with  such  ministers  as  are 
most  zealous  of  the  best  reformation,  altars  removed, 
the  communion  in  some  places  given  at  the  table  with 
sitting,  the  great  organs  at  Paul's  and  Peter's  in  West- 
minster taken  down,  images  and  many  other  monu- 
ments of  idolatry  defaced  and  abolished,  the  Chapel 
Koyal  at  Whitehall  purged  and  reformed ;  and  all  by 
authority,  in  a  quiet  manner,  at  noon-day,  without  tu- 


AB0UMBNT  FROM  THE  PRBSBWHMAN  STANDARDS.     133 

mult."  '  So  thorough  was  the  work  of  Removing  organs 
that  the  "  Eneyelopaxtia  P>ritannica"  says  that  Hal  the 
Revolution  most  of  the  organs  in  England  had  been  de- 
steoyed»"s 

When,  therefore,  the  Assembly  addressed  itself  to  the 
task  of  framing  a  Directory  for  Worship,  it  found  itself 
confronted  by  a  condition  of  the  churches  of  Great 
Britain  in  which  the  singing  of  psalms  without  instru- 
mental accompaniment  almost  universally  prevailed. 
In  proscribing,  consequently,  the  singing  of  psalms 
without  making  any  allusion  to  the  restoration  of  in- 
strumental music,  it  must,  in  all  fairness,  be  construed 
to  specify  the  simple  singing  of  praise  as  a  part  of  pub- 
lic worship.  The  question,  moreover,  is  settled  by  the 
consideration  that  had  any  debate  occurred  as  to  the 
propriety  of  allowing  the  use  of  instrumental  music, 
the  Scottish  commissioners  would  have  vehemently  and 
uncompromisingly  opposed  that  measure.  But  Light- 
font,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Assembly,  in  his  "  Jour- 
nal <>f  its  Proceedings"3  tells  us:  "This  morning  we 
fell  upon  the  Directory  for  singing  of  psalms;  and,  in 
a  short  time,  we  finished  it."  He  says  that  the  only 
point  upon  which  the  Scottish  commissioners  had 
some  discnssioE  was  the  reading  of  the  Psalms  line  by 
line. 

If  anything  were  lacking  to  confirm  these  views,  it 
would  be  found  in  what  is  known  of  the  state  of  opin- 
ion in  the  Puritan  party,  the  party  represented  in  the 
Westminster  Assembly,  as  well  before  as  during  the 
-ions  of  that  body. 

ett  of  Assembly  of  Church  of  8eoUand,  l'Ml.         '  Art.,  Organ. 
Work*,  Vol.  xiii.,  pp.  343,  344  :  London,  1825. 


134  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

"Her  Majesty  [Elizabeth]  was  afraid,"  says  Neal, 
"of  reforming  too  far;  she  was  desirous  to  retain 
images  in  churches,  crucifixes  and  crosses,  yocal  and 
instrumental  music,  with  all  the  old  popish  garments  ; 
it  is  not,  therefore,  to  be  wondered  that,  in  reviewing 
the.  liturgy  of  King  Edward,  no  alterations  were  made 
in  favor  of  those  who  now  began  to  be  called  Puritans, 
from  their  attempting  a  purer  form  of  worship  and  dis- 
cipline than  had  as  yet  been  established."  1 

"  Drs.  Humphreys  and  Samson,"  says  the  same  his- 
torian, "two  heads  of  the  Non-conformists,  wrote  to 
Zurich  the  following  reasons  against  wearing  the 
habits."  After  giving  the  reasons  the  writers  continue  : 
"  But  the  dispute  is  not  only  about  a  cap  and  surplice ; 
there  are  other  grievances  which  ought  to  be  redressed 
or  dispensed  with ;  as  (1)  music  and  organs  in  divine 
worship,"  etc.2 

He  further  says:  "They  [the  Puritans]  disallowed 
of  the  cathedral  mode  of  worship;  of  singing  their 
prayers,  and  of  the  antiphone  or  chanting  of  the  Psalms 
by  turns,  which  the  ecclesiastical  commissioners  in  King 
Edward  the  Sixth's  time  advised  the  laying  aside.  Nor 
did  they  approve  of  musical  instruments,  as  trumpets, 
organs,  etc.,  which  were  not  in  use  in  the  church  for 
above  1200  years  after  Christ."  3 

John  Owen,  the  great  Puritan  divine,  who  was  con- 
temporary with  the  Westminster  Assembly,  says : 4 
"Not  only  hereby  the  praising  and  blessing  of  God, 
but  the  use  of  those  forms  in  so  doing  became  a  neces- 

lHist.  Puritans,  Vol.  i,  p.  76,'Choules's  ed.,  New  York,  1863. 
'2Md.,  p.  93.  3lbid,,  p.  107. 

4  Wo?*ks,  Vol.  xv.,  p.  37,  Goold's  ed. 


ABGUMENI  PROli  THE  PRE8BYTEKULN  STANDARDS.     135 

sarv  part  of  the  worship  of  God ;  and  so  was  the  use 
of  organs  and  the  like  instruments  of  music,  which  re- 
spect that  manner  of  praising  him  which  God  then  re- 
quired." He  speaks  here  of  the  temple-service  in  the 
Jewish  dispensation.  This  venerable  Bervant  of  Christ 
also  says:1  "And  he  [David]  speaks  expressly,  in 
1  Ohron.  xxiii.  5,  of  praising  God  with  instruments  of 
music  'which,'  says  he,  'I  made.'  He  did  it  by  the 
direction  of  the  Spirit  of  God;  otherwise  he  ought  not 
to  have  done  it;  for  so  it  is  said,  1  Ch.  xxviii.  12,  when 
he  had  established  all  the  ordinances  of  the  temple, 
•the  pattern  of  all  that  he  had  by  the  Spirit.'  And 
10,  'All  this,'  said  David,  'the  Lord  made  me 
understand  in  writing  by  his  hand  upon  me,  even  all 
the  works  of  this  pattern.'  It  was  all  revealed  unto  him 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  without  which  he  could  have  intro- 
duced nothing  at  all  into  the  worship  of  God." 

From  what  has  been  said,  it  is  evident  that  the  pro- 
visions in  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  the  Directory 
for  Worship  touching  singing  in  public  worship  were 
intended  to  exelude  the  employment  of  instrumental 
music  ;  and  it  follows  that  its  use  by  those  who  accept 
formularies  is  in  violation  of  their  constitutional 
law. 

3.  Instrumental  music  is  doctrinally  excluded  from 
the  public  worship  of  the  church  by  the  Confession  of 

Faith. 

The  passage  which  is  appealed  to  in  support  of  this 
position  i^  as  follows  :   "The  whole  conns,]  of  ( Jod  con- 


Work,  Vol.  ix.,  ],.  n;;;. 


136  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

cerning  all  things  necessary  for  his  own  glory,  man's 
salvation,  faith,  and  life,  is  either  expressly  set  clown 
in  Scripture,  or  by  good  and  necessary  consequence 
may  be  deduced  from  Scripture :  unto  which  nothing  is 
at  any  time  to  be  added,  whether  by  new  revelations  of 
the  Spirit  or  traditions  of  men.  Nevertheless,  we  ac- 
knowledge the  inward  illumination  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
to  be  necessary  for  the  saving  understanding  of  such 
things  as  are  revealed  in  the  Word ;  and  that  there  are 
some  circumstances  concerning  the  icorshij)  of  God  and 
government  of  the  church  common  to  human  actions  and 
societies  which  are  to  he  ordered  by  the  light  of  nature 
and  Christian  prudence,  according  to  the  general  rules  of 
the  Word,  which  are  alioays  to  be  observed."  1 

(1.)  The  whole  preceding  argument  clearly  proves 
that  the  Westminster  Assembly  could  not  have  intended 
to  include  instrumental  music  in  those  circumstances 
concerning — not  in,  nor  of,  not  implicated  in  the  nature 
of,  but  concerning — the  worship  of  God,  the  ordering 
of  which  it  concedes  not  to  be  prescribed  by  Scripture, 
but  to  depend  upon  natural  judgment  and  Christian 
discretion.  Let  us  glance  back  at  that  argument.  It 
proved :  that  the  prescriptive  will  of  God  regulates  all 
things  pertaining  to  the  kind  of  worship  to  be  rendered 
him  in  his  house ;  that  nothing  which  is  not  com- 
manded by  him  in  his  Word,  either  explicitly  or  im- 
plicitly, can  be  warrantably  introduced  into  the  public 
worship  of  his  sanctuary ;  that  man's  will,  wisdom,  or 
taste  can,  in  this  sphere,  originate  nothing,  authorize 
nothing,  but  that  human  discretion  is  excluded,  and 
absolute   obedience  to  the  divine  authority  imposed ; 

1  Chap.  i.  Sec.  vi. 


ARcll'MENT  FROM  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  STANDARDS.      137 

that  instrumental  music  was  not  commanded  of  God  to 
be  used  in  connection  with  the  tabernacle  during  the 
greater  part  of  its  existence,  and  consequently  it  was 
not  there  employed  ;  that  God  expressly  commanded  it 
to  be  used  in  the  temple,  and  therefore  it  was  employed 
in  its  services  ;  that  the  temple  itself,  with  all  that  was 
peculiar  and  distinctive  in  its  worship,  was  typical  and 
symbolical,  and  was  designed  to  be  temporary;  that  it 
did  pass  away  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  dispen- 
sation ;  that  instrumental  music  was  a  part  of  its  typi- 
cal elements,  and  has  consequently  shared  its  abolition  ; 
that  instrumental  music  was  not  commanded  of  God  to 
be  used  in  connection  with  the  synagogue,  which  ex- 
isted contemporaneously  with  the  temple,  and  wras 
therefore  not  employed  in  its  services;  that  the  Chris- 
tian church  was,  in  its  polity  and  worship,  conformed 
not  to  the  temple,  but  to  the  synagogue,  as  is  admitted 
even  by  some  distinguished  Prelatists,  such  modifica- 
tions and  conditions  having  been  added  as  necessarily 
grew  out  of  the  change  of  dispensations — the  accom- 
plishment of  atonement,  the  copious  effusion  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  the  evangelistic  genius  and  office  of 
the  new  economy  ;  that  instrumental  music  in  public 
worship  was  not  one  of  these  Christian  modifications  or 
conditions;  that  the  New  Testament  Scriptures  exclude 
that  kind  of  music,  and  that  it  was  unknown  in  the 
practice  <>f  the  apostolic  church,  as  is  evinced  not  only 
by  the  teaching  of  the  apostles,  but  also  by  the  absence 
of  instrumental  music  from  the  church  for  more  than  a 
millennium. 

Now,  this  was  the  way  in  which  the  Westminster  di- 
vines, together  with  the  whole  Puritan  party,  were  ac- 


138  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

customed  to  argue,  and  in  addition  to  this  method  of 
argument  from  Scripture,  they  also  condemned  instru- 
mental music  as  one  of  those  badges  of  Popery  from 
which  they  Contended  that  the  church  should  be  purged. 
To  take  the  ground,  then,  that  in  the  single  clause  in 
regard  to  "  the  circumstances  concerning  the  worship 
of  God  .  .  .  common  to  human  actions  and  societies, 
which  are  to  be  ordered  by  the  light  of  nature  and 
Christian  prudence,"  they  meant  to  include  instrumen- 
tal music,  is  to  maintain  that  in  that  one  utterance  they 
contradicted  and  subverted  their  whole  doctrine  on  the 
subject.  It  would  be  to  say  that  they  made  all  their 
solemn  contentions  and  cherished  views  upon  that  sub- 
ject what  the  wise  woman  of  Tekoah  represented  hu- 
man life  to  be,  "  as  water  spilt  on  the  ground,  which 
cannot  be  gathered  up  again."  The  thing  is  prepos- 
terous. It  cannot  for  a  moment  be  supposed.  One 
might,  therefore,  close  the  argument  just  here.  What- 
ever the  Assembly  meant  to  include  in  the  category  of 
circumstances  falling  under  the  discretion  of  the  church, 
it  is  absolutely  certain  that  it  was  not  intended  to  em- 
brace in  it  instrumental  music.  But  inasmuch  as,  not- 
withstanding this  obtrusive  fact,  the  clause  in  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith  touching  circumstances  concerning  the 
worship  of  God  is  unaccountably  but  commonly  pleaded 
in  justification  of  the  employment  of  instrumental  music 
in  church  services,  I  will  endeavor  to  vindicate  it  from 
that  abusive  construction. 

(2.)  Let  us  determine,  in  the  light  of  the  instrument 
that  we  are  interpreting,  what  tJie-se  circumstances  ere. 

They  are  expressly  defined  to  be  such  as  are  "com- 
mon to  human  actions  and  societies."     It  would  seem 


,i  MI.M    PROM  THE  PEESBYTEBIAH  STANDARDS.     139 

aeedless  to  discuss  the  question.  One  feels  thai  he  is 
talking  superfluously  and  triflingly  in  arguing  that  cir- 
cumstances common  to  human  actions  are  not  and  can- 
not be  peculiar  to  church  actions.  It  is  certain  that 
circumstances  common  to  human  societies  cannot  be 
peculiar  to  church  societies.  But  these  circumstances 
are  declared  to  be  common  to  human  societies,  to  so- 
cieties of  all  sorts  -political,  philosophical,  scientific, 
literarv,  mercantile,  agricultural,  mechanical,  industrial, 
military, -and  even  infidel.  Time  and  place,  costume 
and  posture,  sitting  or  standing,  and  the  like,  are  cir- 
cumstances common  to  all  societies,  and  therefore  per- 
tain to  the  church  as  a  society.  'But  will  it  be  seri- 
ously maintained  that  instrumental  music  is  such  a 
circumstance?  Is  it  common  to  human  societies? 
These  questions  answer  themselves.  As  instrumental 
music  is  not  a  circumstance  common  to  all  societies,  it 
is  not  one  of  the  circumstances  specified  in  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith.     It  is  excluded  by  the  terms  which  it 

It  may  be  said  that,  as  all  human  societies  have  the 
right  to  order  the  circumstances  in  which  their  pecu- 
liar acts  shall  be  performed,  the  church  possesses  this 
common  right,  and  may  appoint  the  circumstance  of 
instrumental  music  as  an  accompaniment  to  its  peculiar 
act  of  singing  praise.  How  this  relieves  the  difficulty 
it  is  impossible  to  see.  For  the  Confession  defines  the 
circumstances  in  question  to  be  common  to  human  ac- 
tions, and  therefore  common  to  the  actions  of  all  hu- 
man societies.  Hut  it  will  not  be  contended  that  the 
action  of  ringing  praise  in  the  worship  of  God  belongs 
to  all  societies  as  such.      If  that  action  does  not  belong 


140  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

to  them,  no  circumstances  attending  it  can  belong  to 
them.  The  community  of  the  action  infers  the  com- 
munity of  the  circumstances  attending  it.  The  ground 
of  the  objection  is  therefore  swept  away;  there  is  no 
such  action  common  to  all  societies  as  the  singing  of 
praise  in  God's  worship,  and  consequently  no  such  cir- 
cumstance attending  it  as  instrumental  music.  The 
action  and  the  circumstance  vanish  together.  If  the 
action  of  singing  praise  belonged  alike  to  the  church 
and  all  societies  there  might  be  some  color  of  plausi- 
bility in  the  plea  that  the  church  may  determine  the 
circumstances  which  attend  it  as  done  by  herself,  so 
far,  at  least,  as  the  terms  of  this  particular  clause  in 
the  Confession  of  Faith  are  concerned.  If,  however, 
the  action  of  singing  praise  m  God's  worship  is  pecu- 
liar to  the  church  as  a  particular  kind  of  society,  the 
circumstance  of  instrumental  music  as  attending  it  can- 
not be  common  to  human  actions  and  societies.  It  is 
therefore  ruled  out  by  the  language  of  the  Confession. 

This  argument  is  conclusive,  unless  it  can  be  shown 
that  instrumental  music  is  a  circumstance  necessary  to 
to  the  performance  of  the  action — singing  of  praise.  A 
simple  and  complete  answer  to  this  is,  that  for  a  thou- 
sand years  the  church  sang  praise  without  instrumental 
accompaniment.  How  then  can  its  necessity  to  the 
singing  of  praise  be  maintained  ?  Can  a  circumstance 
be  necessary  to  the  performance  of  an  act,  when  the 
act  has  been  performed  without  it,  and  is  now  continu- 
ally, Sabbath  after  Sabbath,  performed  without  it?  To 
say  that  instrumental  music  assists  in  the  performance 
of  the  act  is  to  shift  the  issue.  The  question  is  not,  Is 
it  helpful?  but,  Is  it  necessary? 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  STANDARDS.      141 

To  this  it  must  be  added  that  this  particular  pro- 
vision of  the  Confession  is  to  be  interpreted  in  confor- 
mity with  its  catholic  teaching  and  that  of  its  sister 
standards.  Both  represent  the  singing  of  psalms  as 
prescribed.  Both  are  silent  about  the  prescription  of 
instrumental  music.  Now  if  it  could  be  proved  that 
the  latter  is  necessary  to  the  former,  the  prescription  of 
one  would  logically  imply  the  prescription  of  the  other. 
But  v,e  have  seen  that  there  is  no  such  necessity.  "We 
are  obliged  therefore  to  exclude  instrumental  music  as 
illegitimate,  in  view  of  the  express  declaration  of  the 
Confession  and  other  standards  that  we  are  forbidden 
to  introduce  anything  into  the  worship  of  God  which 
is  not  prescribed.  Here  is  a  circumstance  which  is 
neither  necessary  nor  prescribed.  It  cannot,  therefore, 
be  among  the  circumstances  legitimated  by  the  Confes- 
sion. 

We  have  now  seen  that  the  action  of  singing  praise 
in  the  worship  of  God  is  one  peculiar  to  the  church  and 
not  common  to  it  with  all  other  societies,  and  that 
instrumental  music  is  a  circumstance  concerning  this 
peculiar  ecclesiastical  action  which,  therefore,  cannot 
be  common  to  human  actions  and  societies.  Conse- 
quently, it  is  not  one  of  those  circumstances  which  are 
in  the  discretionary  power  of  the  church,  precisely  as 
they  are  in  the  discretionary  power  of  all  societies.  No 
circumstance  peculiar  to  and  distinctive  of  the  church, 
as  such,  can  be  one  of  the  circumstances  mentioned  by 
the  Confession  of  Faith. 

The  question  then  returns:  What  are  the  circum- 
stances concerning  the  worship  of  God  which  the 
church  has  the  right  to  order  according  to  the  light  of 

*3 


142  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

nature  and  Christian  prudence  ?  Their  proper  defini- 
tion is,  that  they  are  conditions  upon  which  the  actions 
of  all  human  societies  are  performed, — conditions  ivith- 
out  which  the  actions  of  any  society  either  cannot  he  pe?*- 
formed  at  all,  or  cannot  he  performed  decently  and  in 
order. 

First,  They  are  conditions  which  are  not  peculiar  to 
the  acts  of  any  particular  society,  but  common  to  the 
acts  of  all  societies.  They  cannot,  consequently,  be 
peculiar  to  the  acts  of  the  church  as  a  particular  society. 
But  instrumental  music  is  a  condition  peculiar  to  the 
act  of  singing  praise  in  some  particular  churches.  The 
conclusion  is  obvious.  Let  us  take,  for  example,  the 
circumstances  of  time  and  place.  They  condition  the 
meeting  and  therefore  the  acts  of  every  society.  None 
could  meet  and  act  without  the  appointment  of  a  time 
and  a  place  for  the  assembly.  This  is  true  alike  of  the 
church  and  an  infidel  club.  In  this  respect  they  are 
dependent  upon  the  same  conditions.  Neither  could 
meet  and  act  without  complying  with  this  condition. 
This  is  a  specimen  of  the  Confession's  circumstances 
which  are  common  to  human  actions  and  societies.  It 
is  ridiculous  to  say  that  instrumental  music  is  in  such 
a  category. 

It  cannot  be  overlooked,  as  has  just  been  intimated, 
that  instrumental  music  is  a  circumstance  which  is  not 
common  to  even  particular  churches.  Some  have  it, 
and  some  do  not.  How  can  it  be  common  to  all  socie- 
ties, when  it  is  not  common  to  churches  themselves? 
How  can  the  conclusion  be  avoided,  that  it  is  not  one 
of  the  circumstances  designated  by  the  Confession  of 
Faith? 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  STANDARDS.    143 

v  ondly,  Tlio  circumstances  indicated  by  the  Con- 
fession are  not  parts  of  the  arts  of  societies:  they  sim- 
ply condition  the  performance  of  the  acts.  They  are  in 
no  souse  qualities  or  modes  of  tin1  acts.  If  the  proof 
of  this  position  is  required,it  is  found  in  the  simple  con- 
sideration that  some  at  least  of  the  acts  of  various  so- 
cieties are  different  acts — they  are  not  common  between 
them.  It  is  therefore  obvious  that  the  parts  of  those 
acts  fall  into  the  category  of  the  acts  of  which  they  are 
parts,  But  these  circumstances  are  common  to  the  acts 
of  all  societies.  To  recur  to  the  example  of  time  and 
place.  These,  it  is  needless  to  say,  while  necessary 
conditions  of  the  acts  of  all  societies,  are,  from  the  na- 
ture of  the  case,  parts  of  the  acts  of  none.  The  resolu- 
tions adopted  by  any  society  surely  do  not  embrace  in 
them  time  and  place  as  integral  elements,  or  qualities 
or  modes.  But  instrumental  music,  although  some- 
times employed  in  churches  by  itself  as  a  distinct  act — 
in  which  case  it  stands  confessed  as  not  prescribed  and 
forbidden— is  generally  used  along  with  singing  as  a 
part  of  the  act  of  church-worship.  In  these  cases  it 
certainly  qualifies  or  modifies  the  act.  As,  therefore, 
it  enters  as  an  element  into  the  acts  of  the  church,  as  a 
distinctive  society,  and  does  not  into  the  acts  of  all  so- 
cieties, it  i>  ruled  out  by  that  fact  from  the  class  of  cir- 
stances  indicated  by  the  Confession. 

7////v//y,  These  circumstances  are  conditions  of  ac- 
tions as  they  are  actions,  and  not  as  they  are  these  or 
particular  kinds  of  actions.  They  condition  all 
sorts  <>f  actions  of  all  sorts  of  societies.  The  debates 
and  votes  of  a  secular  deliberative  body  are  as  much 
conditioned  by  them  as  the  prayers  and  praises  of  the 


144  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

church.  It  will  scarcely  be  contended  that  instrumental 
music  is  a  circumstance  which  conditions  the  debates 
and  votes  of  a  legislature  or  of  a  political  meeting.  But 
if  not,  it  is  conceded  to  be  excluded  from  those  circum- 
stances which  are  pronounced  by  the  Confession  com- 
mon to  human  actions  and  societies. 

Fourthly,  These  circumstances  are  conditions  neces- 
sary to  the  actions  of  all  societies, — necessary  either  to 
the  performance  of  the  actions,  or  to  their  decorous  per- 
formance. Let  it  be  observed,  that  they  are  necessary 
not  to  the  performance  or  the  decorous  performance  of 
some  peculiar  actions  of  particular  societies,  but  to  all 
the  actions  of  all  societies.  To  take  the  ground  that 
instrumental  music  is  a  circumstance  in  some  way  a 
necessary  condition  of  the  singing  of  praise  in  church- 
worship  is  to  go  outside  of  those  circumstances  which 
the  Confession  of  Faith  contemplates.  A  condition  of 
this  peculiar  action  of  the  church,  however  necessary 
to  the  performance  of  the  action  its  employers  may 
deem  it,  cannot  possibly  be  a  common  condition  of  hu- 
man actions  and  societies.  It  lies  outside  of  that  class, 
and  therefore  outside  of  the  circumstances  which  the 
Confession  has  in  view.  Instrumental  music  is  palpa- 
bly such  a  condition,  and  cannot  be  justified  by  an  ap- 
peal to  this  section  of  the  Confession. 

Fifthly,  These  circumstances,  as  conditions  upon 
which  the  acts  of  societies  are  to  be  done,  cannot  be 
religious  in  their  character.  The  reason  is  perfectly 
plain :  they  condition  the  acts  of  all  secular  societies, 
and  it  would  be  out  of  the  question  to  say  that  they 
proceed  upon  religious  conditions.  But  instrumental 
music  when  employed  in  the  worship  of  God's  house  is 


ABGT7MJNT  FROM  THE  PREsTUTFJiT  AN  STANDARDS.      146 

religions.  Hence  the  plea  for  organs,  that  they  have 
a  solemn  sound,  and  are  on  that  account  peculiarly 
adapted  to  accompany  the  singing  of  praise  as  a  reli- 
gious act.  If  it  be  said  that  they  are  a  secular  accom- 
paniment of  religious  worship,  it  may  well  be  asked, 
By  what  right  is  such  an  accompaniment  to  the  wor- 
ship of  God  employed,  without  a  distinct  warrant  from 
him '?  And  when  the  organ  is  played  without  the  ac- 
companiment of  the  singing  of  praise,  is  it  then  secular 
or  religious?  If  secular,  will  it  be  justified  on  the 
ground  that  secular  music  may,  by  itself,  be  allowed  in 
God's  house,  and  that  he  may  be  worshipped  in  a 
worldly  manner?  If  religious,  the  question  is  given 
up  ;  and  then  we  are  compelled  to  return  to  the  asser- 
tion that  the  church  has  no  discretion  in  appointing  re- 
ligious elements  :  they  are  not  among  the  circumstances 
which  are  common  to  human  actions  and  societies. 

The  foregoing  argument  has  shown  that  instrumental 
music  cannot,  on  any  supposable  ground,  be  regarded 
as  a  circumstance  common  to  human  actions  and  so- 
cieties, and  that  it  is  therefore  excluded  by  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  from  the  discretionary  control  of  the 
church.  Unless,  then,  it  can  be  proved  to  be  one  of 
the  things  commanded  by  Christ  and  his  apostles,  it 
cannot  be  lawfully  employed  in  connection  with  the 
w<  >rship  of  God's  house.  In  order  to  meet  the  criticism 
which  may  be  passed  upon  the  argument  that  it  springs 
from  a  singular  and  contracted  conception  of  the  doc- 
trine as  to  circumstances  stated  in  the  Confession  of 
Faith,  the  views  of  a  few  eminent  theologians  will  be 
cited  in  its  support. 

Dr.  John  Owen,  in  arguing  against  a  liturgy,  enounces 


146  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

the  principles  contended  for  in  these  remarks.  "  Cir- 
cumstances," he  says,1  "  are  either  such  as  follow  actions 
as  actions,  or  such  as  are  arbitrarily  superadded  and 
adjoined  by  command  unto  actions,  which  do  not  of 
their  own  accord,  nor  naturally  nor  necessarily  attend 
them.  Now  religious  actions  in  the  worship  of  God 
are  actions  still.  Their  religious  relation  doth  not  de- 
stroy their  natural  being.  Those  circumstances,  then, 
which  do  attend  such  actions  as  actions  not  determined 
by  divine  institution,  may  be  ordered,  disposed  of,  ami 
regulated  by  the  prudence  of  men.  For  instance,  prayer 
is  a  part  of  God's  worship.  Public  prayer  is  so,  as  ap- 
pointed by  him.  This,  as  it  is  an  action  to  be  per- 
formed by  man,  cannot  be  done  without  the  assignment 
of  time,  and  place,  and  sundry  other  things,  if  order 
and  conveniency  be  attended  to.  These  are  circum- 
stances that  attend  all  actions  of  that  nature,  to  be  per- 
formed by  a  community,  whether  they  relate  to  the 
worship  of  God  or  no.  These  men  may,  according  as 
they  see  good,  regulate  and  change  as  there  is  occa- 
sion ;  I  mean,  they  may  do  so  who  are  acknowledged 
to  have  power  in  such  things.  As  the  action  cannot  be 
without  them,  so  their  regulation  is  arbitrary,  if  they 
come  not  under  some  divine  disposition  and  order,  as 
that  of  time  in  general  doth.  There  are  also  some 
things,  which  some  men  call  circumstances  also,  that 
no  way  belong  of  themselves  to  the  actions  whereof 
they  are  said  to  be  the  circumstances,  nor  do  attend 
them,  but  are  imposed  on  them,  or  annexed  unto  them, 
by  the  arbitrary  authority  of  those  who  take  upon  them 
to  give  order  and  rules  in  such  cases ;  such  as  to  pray 

1  Works,  Vol.  xv.,  pp.  35,  36,  Goold's  Ed. 


ARGUMENT  PBOM  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  STANDARDS.     1  17 

before  an  image  or  towards  fclie  east,  or  to  use  this  or 
that  form  of  prayer  in  such  gospel  administrations,  and 
do  other.  These  are  not  circumstances  attending  the 
nature  of  the  thing  itself,  but  are  arbitrarily  superadded 
to  the  things  that  they  are  appointed  to  accompany. 
Whatever  men  may  call  such  additions,  they  are  no  less 
-parts  of  the  whole  wherein  they  serve  than  tin4  things 
themselves  whereunto  they  are  adjoined."  He  then 
goes  on  to  prove  from  Scripture  that  "such  additions 
to  or  in  the  worship  of  God,  besides  or  beyond  his  own 
institution  and  appointment"  are  not  "allowable,  or 
lawful  to  be  practised." 

In  another  place  the  same  great  theologian  says  : ] 
w>  Whatever  is  of  circumstance  in  the  manner  of  its  per- 
formance |  worship],  not  capable  of  especial  determina- 
tion, as  emerging  or  arising  only  occasionally,  upon  the 
doing  of  that  which  is  appointed  at  this  or  that  time, 
in  this  or  that  place,  and  the  like,  is  left  unto  the  rule 
of  moral  prmJence,  in  whose  observation  their  order 
doth  consist.  But  the  superaddition  of  ceremonies  ne- 
cessarily  belonging  neither  to  the  institutions  of  wor- 
ship nor  unto  those  circumstances  whose  disposal  falls 
under  the  rule  of  moral  prudence,  neither  doth  nor  can 
add  any  thing  unto  the  due  order  of  gospel  worship  ; 
so  that  they  are  altogether  needless  and  useless  in  the 
worship  of  God.  Neither  is  this  tin1  whole  of  the  in- 
convenience wherewith  their  observance  is  attended  ; 
for  although  they  are  not  in  particular  and  expressly  in 
the  Scripture  forbidden — for  it  was  simply  impossible 
that  all  instances  wherein  the  wit  of  man  might  exer- 
cise its  invention  in  such  things  should  be  reckoned  up 

1  Works,  Vol.  xv.,  pp.  4C9,  471,  Goold's  ed 


148  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

and  condemned — yet  they  fall  directly  under  those  se- 
vere prohibitions  which  God  hath  recorded  to  secure 
his  worship  from  all  such  additions  unto  it  of  what  sort 
soever.  .  .  .  The  Papists  say,  indeed,  that  all  additions 
corrupting  the  worship  of  God  are  forbidden,  but  such 
as  further  adorn  and  preserve  it  are  not  so,  which  im- 
plies a  contradiction,  for  whereas  every  addition  is 
principally  a  conniption  because  it  is  an  addition,  un- 
der which  notion  it  is  forbidden  (and  that  in  the  wor- 
ship of  God  which  is  forbidden  is  a  corruption  of  it), 
there  can  be  no  such  preserving,  adorning  addition, 
unless  we  allow  a  preserving  and  adorning  corruption. 
Neither  is  it  of  more  force,  which  is  pleaded  by  them, 
that  the  additions  which  they  make  belong  not  unto  the 
substance  of  the  worship  of  God,  but  unto  the  circum- 
stances of  it;  for  every  circumstance  observed  reli- 
giously, or  to  be  observed  in  the  worship  of  God,  is  of 
the  substance  of  it,  as  were  all  those  ceremonious  ob- 
servances of  the  law,  which  had  the  same  respect  in  the 
prohibitions  of  adding,  with  the  most  weighty  things 
whatsoever." 

"There  is  nothing,"  says  George  Gillespie,1  "which 
any  way  pertaineth  to  the  worship  of  God  left  to  the 
determination  of  human  laws  beside  the  mere  circum- 
stances, which  neither  have  any  holiness  in  them,  for- 
asmuch as  they  have  no  other  use  and  praise  in  sacred 
than  they  have  in  civil  things,  nor  yet  were  particularly 
determinable  in  Scripture,  because  they  are  infinite; 
but  sacred,  significant  ceremonies,  such  as  [the]  cross, 
kneeling,  surplice,  holidays,  bishopping,  etc.,  which 
have  no  use  and  praise  except  in  religion  only,  and 

1  Works,  in  Presbyterian's  Armoury,  Vol.  i. ,  Pref .  p.  xii. 


ABOUMENT  FROM  THE  PBE8BTTERIAM  STANDARDS.     149 

which,  also,  were  most  easily  determinable  (yet  Dot  de- 
termined)  within  those   bounds  which  the  wisdom  of 

God  did  set  to  liis  written  Word,  are  such  things  as 
God  never  left  to  the  determination  of  any  human 
law." 

He  speaks  more  explicitly  to  the  same  effect  in  the 
following  words:'-  "I  direct  my  course  straight  to  the 
ting  of  the  true  limits  within  which  the  church's 
power  of  enacting  laws  about  things  pertaining  to  the 
worship  of  God  is  bounded  and  confined,  and  which  it 
may  not  overleap  nor  transgress.  Three  conditions  I 
rind  necessarily  requisite  in  such  a  thing  as  the  church 
has  power  to  prescribe  by  her  laws : 

"1.  It  must  be  only  a  circumstance  of  divine  wor- 
ship ;  no  substantial  part  of  it ;  no  sacred,  significant, 
and  efficacious  ceremony.  For  the  order  and  decency 
left  to  the  definition  of  the  church,  as  concerning  the 
particulars  of  it,  comprehendeth  no  more  but  mere  cir- 
cumstances. .  .  .  Though  circumstances  be  left  to  the 
determination  of  the  church,  yet  ceremonies,  if  we 
speak  properly,  are  not  .  .  .  circumstances  which  have 
place  in  all  moral  actions,  and  that  to  the  same  end 
and  purpose  for  which  they  serve  in  religious  actions — 
namely,  for  beautifying  them  with  that  decent  demeanor 
whichj;he  very  light  and  law  of  natural  reason  requireth 
as  a  thing  beseeming  all  human  actions.  For  the 
church  of  Christ,  being  a  society  of  men  and  women, 
must  either  observe  order  and  decency  in  all  the  cir- 
cumstances of  their  holy  actions,  time,  place,  person, 
form,  etc.,  or  else  be  deformed  with  that  disorder  and 
confusion  which  common  reason  and  civility  abhorreth. 

:  Works,  in  Presbyterian's  Armoury,  VoL  L,  p.  130. 


150  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

"  2.  That  which  the  church  may  lawfully  prescribe 
by  her  laws  and  ordinances,  as  a  thing  left  to  her  de- 
termination, must  be  one  of  such  things  as  were  not 
determinable  by  Scripture  on  that  reason  which  Camero 
hath  given  us,  namely,  because  individua  are  infinita. 
.  .  .  We  say  truly  of  those  several  and  changeable  cir- 
cumstances which  are  left  to  the  determination  of  the 
church,  that,  being  almost  infinite,  they  were  not  par- 
ticularly determinable  in  Scripture But  as  for 

other  things  pertaining  to  God's  worship,  which  are 
not  to  be  reckoned  among  the  circumstances  of  it,  they 
being  in  number  neither  many  nor  in  chauge  various, 
were  most  easily  and  conveniently  determinable  in 
Scripture.  Now,  since  God  would  have  his  Word 
(which  is  our  rule  in  the  works  of  his  service)  not  to 
be  delivered  by  tradition,  but  to  be  written  and  sealed 
unto  us,  that  by  this  means,  for  obviating  satanical 
subtility  and  succoring  human  imbecility,  we  might  have 
a  more  certain  way  for  conservation  of  true  religion, 
and  for  the  instauration  of  it  when  it  faileth  among 
men, — how  can  we  but  assure  ourselves  that  every  such 
acceptable  thing  pertaining  any  way  to  religion,  which 
was  particularly  and  conveniently  determinable  in 
Scripture,  is  indeed  determined  in  it ;  and  consequent- 
ly, that  no  such  thing  as  is  not  a  mere  alterable  cir- 
cumstance is  left  to  the  determination  of  the  church  ? 

"3.  If  the  church  prescribe  anything  lawfully,  so 
that  she  prescribe  no  more  than  she  hath  power  given 
her  to  prescribe,  her  ordinance  must  be  accompanied 
with  some  good  reason  and  warrant  given  for  the  satis- 
faction of  tender  consciences." 

"As  a  positive  institution,  with  a  written  charter," 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  PBESBYTERIAH  STANDARDS.     151 

remarks  Dr.  Thornwell,1  "she  [the  church]  is  confined 
to  the  express  or  implied  teachings  of  the  "Word  of 
God,  the  standard  of  her  authority  and  rights,  ...  as 
in  the  sphere  of  doctrine  she  has  no  opinions,  but  a 
faith,  so,  in  the  sphere  of  practice,  she  has  no  expe- 
dients, but  a  law.  Her  power  is  solely  ministerial  and 
declarative.  Her  whole  duty  is  to  believe  and  obey. 
Whatever  is  not  commanded,  expressly  or  implicitly, 
is  unlawful.  .  .  .  According  to  our  view,  the  law  of  the 
church  is  the  positive  one  of  conformity  with  Scripture ; 
according  to  the  view  which  we  condemned,  it  is  the 
negative  one  of  non-contradiction  to  Scripture.  Ac- 
cording to  us,  the  church,  before  she  can  move,  must 
not  only  show  that  she  is  not  prohibited,  she  must  also 
show  that  she  is  actually  commanded,  she  must  pro- 
duce a  warrant.  Hence  we  absolutely  denied  that  she 
has  any  discretion  in  relation  to  things  not  commanded. 
She  can  proclaim  no  laws  that  Christ  has  not  ordained, 
institute  no  ceremonies  which  he  has  not  appointed, 
create  no  offices  which  he  has  not  prescribed,  and 
exact  no  obedience  which  he  has  not  enjoined.  She 
not  enter  the  wide  domain  which  he  has  left  in- 
different, and  by  her  authority  bind  the  conscience 
where  he  has  left  it  free. 

••  But  does  it  follow  from  this  that  she  has  absolutely 
no  discretion  at  all?  On  the  contrary,  we  distinctly 
and  repeatedly  asserted,  that  in  the  sphere  of  com- 
manded things  she  has  a  discretion  -a  discretion  de- 
termined by  the  nature  of  the  actions,  and  by  the  di- 
vine principle  that  all  things  be  done  decently  and  in 
order.  .  .  .  We  only  limited  and  defined  it.     We  never 

1  Cvll.   Wl  :.iv.,  p.  241,  ff. 


152  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

denied  that  the  church  has  the  right  to  fix  the  hours  of 
public  worship,  the  times  and  places  of  the  meetings  of 
her  courts,  the  numbers  of  which  they  shall  be  com- 
posed, and  the  territories  which  each  shall  embrace. 
Our  doctrine  was  precisely  that  of  the  Westminster 
standards,  of  John  Calvin,  of  John  Owen,  of  the  Free 
Church  of  Scotland,  and  of  the  noble  army  of  Puritan 
martyrs  and  confessors." 

After  quoting  the  statements  of  the  Westminster 
Confession  of  Faith  on  the  subject,  he  goes  on  to  say : 
"  Here  the  discretion  is  limited  to  some  circumstances, 
and  those  common  to  human  actions  and  societies.  Now, 
the  question  arises,  What  is  the  nature  of  these  cir- 
cumstances ?  A  glance  at  the  proof-texts  on  which  the 
doctrine  relies  enables  us  to  answer.  Circumstances 
are  those  concomitants  of  an  action  without  which  it 
either  cannot  be  done  at  all,  or  cannot  be  done  with 
decency  and  decorum.  Public  worship,  for  example, 
requires  public  assemblies,  and  in  public  assemblies 
people  must  appear  in  some  costume,  and  assume  some 
posture.  Whether  they  shall  shock  common  sentiment 
in  their  attire,  or  conform  to  common  practice ;  whether 
they  shall  stand,  sit  or  lie,  or  whether  each  shall  be  at 
liberty  to  determine  his  own  attitude — these  are  cir- 
cumstances ;  they  are  the  necessary  concomitants  of 
the  action,  and  the  church  is  at  liberty  to  regulate 
them.  Public  assemblies,  moreover,  cannot  be  held 
without  fixing  the  time  and  place  of  meeting;  these, 
too,  are  circumstances  which  the  church  is  at  liberty 
to  regulate.  Parliamentary  assemblies  cannot  trans- 
act their  business  with  efficiency  and  despatch — in- 
deed, cannot  transact  it  decently  at  all — without  com- 


AIKH.Ml  M    FROM  THE  rRESBYTERlAN  STANDARDS.      L53 

mittees.  Committees,  therefore,  arc  circumstances 
commoD  to  parliamentary  societies,  which  the  church, 
in  her  parliaments,  is  at  liberty  to  appoint.  All  the 
details  of  our  government  in  relation  to  the  distribution 
of  courts,  the  number  necessary  to  constitute  a  quorum, 
the  times  of  their  meetings,  the  manner  in  which  they 
shall  be  opened, — all  these,  and  such  like,  are  circum- 
stances, which,  therefore,  the  church  has  a  perfect 
right  to  arrange.  We  must  carefully  distinguish  be- 
tween those  circumstances  which  attend  actions  as  <<<■- 
that  is,  without  which  the  actions  could  not  be, 
and  those  circumstances  which,  though  not  essential, 
are  added  as  appendages.  These  last  do  not  fall  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  church.  She  has  no  right  to 
appoint  them.  They  are  circumstances  in  the  sense 
that  they  do  not  belong  to  the  substance  of  the  act. 
They  are  not  circumstances  in  the  sense  that  they  so 
surround  it  that  they  cannot  be  separated  from  it.  A 
liturgy  is  a  circumstance  of  this  kind,  as  also  the  sign 
of  the  cross  in  baptism,  and  bowing  at  the  name  of 
Jesus.     Owen  notes  the  distinction." 

These  great  men  concur  in  showing  that  the  circum- 
stances of  which  the  Confession  of  Faith  speaks  as 
falling  under  the  discretionary  control  of  the  church  in 
the  sphere  <>f  worship  are  not  superadded  appendages 
to  the  acts  of  worship,  which  may  or  may  not  accom- 
pany them  as  the  church  may  determine,  but  are  sim- 
ply conditions  necessary  either  to  the  performance  of 
the  acts  or  to  their  decent  and  orderly  performance — 
conditions  not  peculiar  to  these  acts  of  the  church  as  a 
distinctive  society,  but  common  to  the  acts  of  all  so- 
cieties.     Particular  attention  is  challenged  to  the  views 

14 


154  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

cited  from  Gillespie,  for  the  reason  that  he  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Westminster  Assembly,  and  of  course  accu- 
rately knew  and  expounded  the  doctrine  of  that  body 
on  this  subject.  He  draws  a  clear  distinction  between 
what  was  determinable  by  Scripture  and  what  was  not. 
What  was  not  so  determinable  was  left  to  be  determined 
by  the  church ;  what  was  so  determinable  was  excluded 
from  her  discretion.  Now  it  is  certain  that  instrumen- 
tal music  was,  under  the  Jewish  dispensation,  actually 
determined  by  the  revealed  will  of  God  as  an  element 
in  the  temple  worship.  Need  it  be  said  that  it  was, 
therefore,  not  indeterminable  ?  It  might  have  pleased. 
God  to  determine  it  as  an  element  in  the  worship  of 
the  synagogue,  and  in  like  manner  it  might  have  pleased 
him  to  determine  it  as  an  appendage  to  that  of  the 
christian  church.  He  did  not,  and  consequently  it  is 
prohibited.  This  conclusively  settles  the  doctrine  of 
the  Westminster  Assembly.  It  intended  to  teach  that 
instrumental  music  was  not  one  of  the  circumstances 
indeterminable  by  Scripture  and  committed  to  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  church.  As  the  question  here  is  in  re- 
gard to  the  meaning  of  the  circumstances  of  which  the 
Confession  of  Faith  treats,  this  consideration  is  abso- 
lutely decisive.  Instrumental  music  cannot,  without 
violence  to  the  Confession,  be  placed  in  the  category 
of  circumstances  determinable  by  the  church.  As, 
then,  it  is  not  commanded  it  is  forbidden ;  and  they 
who  justify  its  employment  in  public  worship  are  liable 
to  the  serious  charge  of  adding  to  "the  counsel  of  God" 
which  is  "  set  down  "  in  his  Word. 


V. 

Historical  Akoimknt. 

I  hope  to  prove  to  anv  candid  mind  that  the  histori- 
cal argument  is  overwhelmingly  against  the  use  of  in- 
strumental music  in  the  public  worship  of  the  Christian 
church.  It  has  already  been  shown  that  it  was  not  em- 
ployed, under  the  Jewish  dispensation,  in  the  taberna- 
cle until  it  was  about  to  give  way  to  the  temple,  or  in 
the  stated  worship  of  the  synagogue,  and  that,  having 
been  by  divine  direction  limited  to  the  ritual  of  the 
temple,  it  was,  along  with  the  other  distinctive  elements 
of  that  temporary  institute,  abolished  at  the  inaugura- 
tion of  the  Christian  economy.  It  has  also  been  evinced 
that  the  Christian  church,  by  an  easy  transition,  car- 
ried over  into  the  new  dispensation  the  simple  worship 
as  well  as  the  polity  of  the  synagogue,  modified  by  the 
conditions  peculiar  to  that  dispensation  ;  that  the  em- 
ployment of  instrumental  music  in  Christian  worship 
was  not  one  of  those  modifications;  for  such  a  modifi- 
cation would  have  had  the  effect  of  conforming  the  gos- 
pel church  to  the  temple,  with  its  symbolical  and  typi- 
cal rites  a  conformity  from  which  even  the  synagogue 
was  free;  and  that  the  apostles,  as  the  divinely  com- 
missioned and  inspired  organizers  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment church,  so  far  from  authorizing  the  use  of  instru- 
mental music  in  its  worship,  excluded  it.  The  Chris- 
tian church,  it  is  clear,  was  started  without  it.  What 
has   been   tin-    subsequent    history   of  the   case?     In 


156  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

answering  this  question,  reference  will  be  made  to  the 
practice  of  the  church  and  to  the  testimony  of  some  of 
her  leading  theologians  during  the  successive  periods 
of  her  development. 

There  is  no  evidence,  but  the  contrary,  to  show  that 
instrumental  music  was  commonly  introduced  into  the 
church  until  the  thirteenth  century. 

The  church  historians  make  no  mention  of  it  in  their 
accounts  of  the  worship  of  the  early  church.  Mosheim 
says  not  a  word  about  it.  Neander  makes  the  simple 
remark :  "  Church  psalmody,  also,  passed  over  from  the 
synagogue  into  the  Christian  church." l  Dr.  Schaff 
observes:  "He  [Christ]  sanctioned  by  his  own  prac- 
tice, and  spiritualized,  the  essential  elements  of  the 
Jewish  cultus."  2  They  were  historians,  and  could  not 
record  a  fact  which  did  not  exist. 

Bingham,  deservedly  held  in  high  repute  as  a  writer 
on  Christian  antiquities,  and  as  a  member  of  the  Angli- 
can church  certainly  not  prejudiced  in  favor  of  Puri- 
tan views,  says  :'3  "I  should  here  have  put  an  end  to 
this  chapter,  but  that  some  readers  would  be  apt  to 
reckon  it  an  omission,  that  we  have  taken  no  notice  of 
organs  and  bells  among  the  utensils  of  the  church. 
But  the  true  reason  is  that  there  were  no  such  things 
in  use  in  the  ancient  churches  for  many  ages.  Music 
in  churches  is  as  ancient  as  the  apostles,  but  instru- 
mental music  not  so." 

In  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  the  fathers  upon  the 
subject  I  cannot  do  better  than  give  an  extract  from  a 

'Hist.  Vol.  i.,  p.  304. 

*  Hist.  Apos.  Ch.,  p.  345;  see  also  Hist.  Chris.  Ch., Vol.  i.,  pp.  120, 12], 

3  Works,  Vol.  iii.,  p.  137. 


H8T0BICAL  \l;<:r.MKNT.  157 

learned  and  able  work  of  the  Rev.  James  Peirce,1  enti- 
tled "A  Vindication  of  the  Dissenters"  "I  come 
now,"  Bays  he,*  "to  say  somewhat  of  the  antiquity  of 
musical  instruments.  But  that  these  were  not  used  in 
the  Christian  church  in  the  primitive  times  is  attested 
by  all  the  ancient  writers  with  one  consent.  Hence 
they  figuratively  explain  all  the  places  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament which  speak  of  musical  instruments,  as  I  might 
easily  show  by  a  thousand  testimonies  out  of  Clement 
of  Alexandria,  Basil,  Ambrose,  Jerome,  Augustin, 
Chrvsostom,  and  many  others.  .  .  Chrysostom  talks 
more  handsomely:  'As  the  Jews  praised  God  with  all 
kinds  of  instruments,  so  are  we  commanded  to  praise 
him  with  all  the  members  of  our  bodies,  our  eyes,'  etc.3 
And  Clement  of  Alexandria  talks  much  to  the  same 
purpose.4  Besides,  the  ancients  thought  it  unlawful  to 
use  those  instruments  in  God's  worship.  Thus  the  un- 
known author  of  a  treatise  among  Justin  Martyr's 
works :  '  Quest.  If  songs  were  invented  by  unbelievers 
with  a  design  of  deceiving,  and  were  appointed  for 
those  under  the  law,  because  of  the  childishness  of 
their  minds,  why  do  they  who  have  received  the  perfect 
instructions  of  grace,  which  are  most  contrary  to  the 
aforesaid  customs,  nevertheless  sing  in  the  churches 
ju>t  as  they  did  who  were  children  under  the  law? 
Ans.  Plain  singing  is  not  childish,  but  only  the  singing 
with  lifeless  organs,  with  dancing  and  cymbals,  etc. 
Whence  the  use  <>f  such  instruments  and  other  things 
fit  for  children  is  laid  aside,  and  plain  singing  only  re- 
tained." 

■ANon-Canfonnist;  died  l~-l<>.      »Pt  iii.,  eh.  iii. ;  London.  1717. 
3  In  Ps.  cL     4  PiNlag.,  Lib.  ii.,  C.  4.       Bap.  ad  Orthodox.,  <«>.  107. 


158  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

"  Chrysostom  seems  to  have  been  of  the  same  mind, 
and  to  have  thought  the  use  of  such  instruments  was 
rather  allowed  the  Jews  in  consideration  of  their  weak- 
ness,- than  prescribed  and  commanded.1  But  that  he 
was  mistaken,  and  that  musical  instruments  were  not 
only  allowed  the  Jews,  as  he  thought,  and  Isidorus  of 
Pelusium  (whose  testimony  I  shall  mention  presently), 
but  were  prescribed  by  God,  may  appear  from  the  texts 
of  Scripture  I  have  before  referred  to.  Clement  .  .  . 
thought  these  things  fitter  for  beasts  than  for  men.2 
And  though  Basil  highly  commends  and  stiffly  defends 
the  way  of  singing  by  turns ;  yet  he  thought  musical 
instruments  unprofitable  and  hurtful.3  .  .  .  He  says 
thus :  '  In  such  vain  arts  as  the  playing  upon  the  harp 
or  pipe,  or  dancing,  as  soon  as  the  action  ceases  the 
work  itself  vanishes.'  So  that,  really,  according  to  the 
apostle's  expression,  'the  end  of  these  things  is  de- 
struction.'4 Isidore  of  Pelusium,  who  lived  since  Basil, 
held  music  was  allowed  the  Jews  by  God  in  a  way  of 
condescension  to  their  childishness:  'If  God'  says  he, 
'  bore  with  bloody  sacrifices,  because  of  men's  childish- 
ness at  that  time,  why  should  you  wonder  he  bore  with 
the  music  of  a  harp  and  a  psaltery  ? ' 5  .  .  .  From  what 
has  been  said,  it  appears  no  musical  instruments  were 
used  in  the  pure  times  of  the  church." 

2.  With  reference  to  the  time  when  organs  were  first 
introduced  into  use  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  let 
us  hear  Bingham  :  6  "It  is  now  generally  agreed  among 

1  In  Ps.  cl.  '-'  Pcedag.,  Lib.  ii.,  C.  iv.,  p.  163. 

3  Comm.  in  Isa.,  0.  v.,  pp.  956,  957. 

4  P.  955.  5EpisL,  Lib.  2,  ep.  176. 
&  Works,  Vol.  iii.,  p.  137,  ff. 


HI8T0RTCA1  \l;«,f  MKNT.  159 

learned  men  that  the  use  of  organs  came  into  the 
church  since  the  time  of  Thomas  Aquinas,  Anno  1250; 
for  he,  in  his  SummSy  lias  these  words:  'Our  church 
docs  not  use  musical  instruments,  as  harps  and  psalt- 
eries, to  praise  God  withal,  that  she  may  not  seem  to 
Judaize.'  From  which  our  learned  Mr.  Gregory,  in  a 
peculiar  dissertation  that  he  lias  upon  the  subject,  con- 
cludes that  there  was  no  ecclesiastical  use  of  organs  in 
his  time.  And  the  same  inference  is  made  by  Cajetan 
and  Navarre  among  the  Romish  writers.  Mr.  "Wharton 
also  has  observed  that  Marinus  Sanutus,  who  lived 
about  the  year  1290,  was  the  first  who  brought  the  use 
of  wind-organs  into  churches,  whence  he  was  surnamed 
Torcellus,  which  is  the  name  for  an  organ  in  the  Ital- 
ian tongue.  And  about  this  time  Durantus,  in  his 
Rationali ,  takes  notice  of  them  as  received  in  the 
church  ;  and  he  is  the  first  author,  as  Mr.  Gregory 
thinks,  that  so  takes  notice  of  them. 

"The  use  of  the  instrument  indeed  is  much  more  an- 
cient, but  not  in  church-service,  the  not  attending  to 
which  distinction  is  the  thing  that  imposes  upon  many 
writers.  .  .  .  Nor  was  it  ever  received  into  the  Greek 
churches,  there  being  no  mention  of  an  organ  in  all 
their  liturgies,  ancient  or  modern,  if  Mr.  Gregory's 
judgment  may  be  taken.  But  Durantus,  however,  con- 
tends for  their  antiquity,  both  in  the  Greek  and  Latin 
churches,  and  offers  to  prove  it,  but  with  ill  success, 
first,  from  Julianus  Halicarnassensis,  a  Greek  writer, 
Anno  510,  whom  he  makes  to  say  that  organs  were 
used  in  the  church  in  his  time.  But  he  mistakes  the 
sense  of  his  author,  who  speaks  not  of  his  own  times, 
but  of  the  time  of  Job  and  the  Jewish  temple.     For, 


160  INSTRUMENTAL  "MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

commenting  on  these  words  of  Job,  xxx.  31,  '  My  harp 
is  turned  to  mourning,  and  my  organ  into  the  voice  of 
them  that  weep,'  he  says  :  '  There  was  no  prohibition  to 
use  musical  instruments  or  organs,  if  it  was  done  with 
piety,  because  they  were  used  in  the  temple.'  By  which, 
it  is  plain,  he  speaks  of  the  Jewish  temple  in  the  singu- 
lar, and  not  of  Christian  temples  or  churches  in  the 
plural,  as  Durantus  mistakes  him.  Next,  for  the  Latin 
church,  he  urges  the  common  opinion  which  ascribes 
the  invention  of  them  to  Pope  Vitalian,  Anno  660 ;  but 
his  authorities  for  this  are  no  better  than  Platina  and 
the  Pontifical,  which  are  little  to  be  regarded  against 
clear  evidences  to  the  contrary.  That  which  some  urge 
out  of  Clemens  Alexandrinus  I  shall  not  answer  as 
Suicerus  does,  (who,  with  Hospinian  and  some,  wholly 
decrying  the  use  of  instrumental  music  in  Christian 
churches,  says  it  is  an  interpolation  and  corruption  of 
that  ancient  author,)  but  only  observe  that  he  speaks 
not  of  what  was  then  in  use  in  Christian  churches,  but 
of  what  might  lawfully  be  used  by  any  private  Chris- 
tians, if  they  were  disposed  to  use  it;  which  rather 
argues  that  instrumental  music  (the  lute  and  harp  of 
which  he  speaks)  was  not  in  use  in  the  public  churches. 
The  same  may  be  gathered  from  the  words  of  St.  Chry- 
sostom,  who  says  :  '  It  was  only  permitted  to  the  Jews, 
as  sacrifice  was,  for  the  heaviness  and  grossness  of 
their  souls.  God  condescended  to  their  weakness,  be- 
cause they  were  lately  drawn  from  idols ;  but  now,  in- 
stead of  organs,  we  may  use  our  own  bodies  to  praise 
him  withal.'  Theodoret  has  many  like  expressions  in 
his  Comments  upon  the  Psalms  and  other  places.  .  .  . 
So  that,  there  being  no  use  of  organs  till  the  twelfth 


HISTORICAL  ARGUMENT.  161 

[thirteenth  ?  |   century,  I  could  not  speak  of  them  as 
utensils  in  the  ancient  churches." 

Let  us  pause  a  moment  to  notice  the  fact,  supported 
by  a  mass  of  incontrovertible  evidence,  that  the  Chris- 
tian church  did  not  employ  instrumental  music  in  its 
public  worship  for  1200  years  after  Christ.  It  proves, 
what  has  been  already  shown  from  the  New  Testament 
Scriptures,  that  the  apostolic  church  did  not  use  it  in 
its  public  services,  and  surely  the  church  ought  now  to 
be  conformed  to  the  practice  of  the  apostles  and  of  the 
churches  whose  usages  they  modelled  according  to  the 
inspired  direction  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  deserves  se- 
rious consideration,  moreover,  that  notwithstanding  the 
ever-accelerated  drift  towards  corruption  in  worship  as 
well  as  in  doctrine  and  government,  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church  did  not  adopt  this  corrupt  practice  until 
about  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century.  This  is  the 
testimony  of  Aquinas,  who  has  always  been  esteemed 
by  that  church  as  a  theologian  of  the  very  first  emi- 
nence, and  who,  of  course,  was  perfectly  acquainted 
with  its  usages.  When  the  organ  was  introduced  into 
it-  worship  it  encountered  strong  opposition,  and  made 
it-  way  but  slowly  to  general  acceptance.  These  as- 
suredly are  facts  that  should  profoundly  impress  Pro- 
testant churches.  How  can  they  adopt  a  practice 
which  the  Roman  Church,  in  the  year  1200,  had  not 
admitted,  and  the  subsequent  introduction  of  which 
opposed  by  some  of  her  best  theologians?  For 
example,  Bellarmin,  as  we  have  already  seen,  condemns 
it  as  not  belonging  to  the  church  perfected  in  the  new 
dispensation,  and  Cardinal  Cajetansaid:  "It  is  to  be 
observed  the  church  did  not  use  organs  in  Thomas's 


162  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

time ;  whence,  even  to  this  clay,  the  Church  of  Rome 
does  not  use  them  in  the  Pope's  presence.  And  truly 
it  will  appear  that  musical  instruments  are  not  to  be 
suffered  in  the  ecclesiastical  offices  we  meet  together  to 
perform  for  the  sake  of  receiving  internal  instruction 
from  God ;  and  so  much  the  rather  are  they  to  be  ex- 
cluded, because  God's  internal  discipline  exceeds  all 
human  disciplines,  which  rejected  this  kind  of  instru- 
ments."1 The  great  scholar,  Erasmus,  who  never  for- 
mally withdrew  from  the  communion  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  thus  forcibly  expresses  himself :  "  We  have 
brought  into  our  churches  a  certain  operose  and  thea- 
trical music;  such  a  confused,  disorderly  chattering  of 
some  words,  as  I  hardly  think  was  ever  heard  in  any 
of  the  Grecian  or  Roman  theatres.  The  church  rings 
with  the  noise  of  trumpets,  pipes  and  dulcimers  ;  and 
human  voices  strive  to  bear  their  part  with  them.  .  .  . 
Men  run  to  church  as  to  a  theatre,  to  have  their  ears 
tickled.  And  for  this  end  organ-makers  are  hired  with 
great  salaries,  and  a  company  of  boys,  who  waste  all 
their  time  in  learning  these  whining  tones  [Ames  trans- 
lates, '  this  gibble -gabble.']  Pray  now  compute  how 
many  poor  people,  in  great  extremity,  might  be  main- 
tained by  the  salaries  of  those  singers."  2 

In  spite  of  this  opposition,  the  organ,  during  the 
fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  steadily  made  its 
way  towards  universal  triumph  in  the  Romish  church. 
Then  came  the  Reformation ;  and  the  question  arises, 
How  did  the  Reformers  deal  with  instrumental  music 
in  the  church  ?     Did  they  teach  that  the  Reformation 

1  Hoffin.  Lex. ,  wee  Musica,  quoted  by  Peirce. 

2  In  1  Cor.  xiv.  19,  cited  by  Peirce  and  Ames. 


HISTORIC. VL  ARGUMENT.  103 

ought  to  embrace  the  expulsion  of  that  kind  of  music 
from  its  services? 

I  will  not  appeal  to  Luther.  Eckhard  '  is  referred  to 
as  Baying:  "Lvtkerus  organa  rrmsica  inter  Baalis  in- 
signia refert"  "Luther  considers  organs  among  the  en- 
signs of  Baal."  But  the  German  reformer  expresses  a 
different  opinion  in  his  commentary  on  Amos  vi.  5. 

Zwingle  has  already  been  quoted  to  show  that  in- 
strumental music  was  one  of  the  shadows  of  the  old 
law  which  has  been  realized  in  the  gospel.  He  pro- 
nounces its  employment  in  the  present  dispensation 
"wicked  pervicacity."  There  is  no  doubt  in  regard  to 
his  views  on  the  subject,  which  were  adoped  by  the 
Swiss  Reformed  churches. 

Calvin  is  very  express  in  his  condemnation  of  in- 
strumental music  in  connection  with  the  public  worship 
of  the  Christian  church.  Besides  the  testimonies  which 
have  already  been  adduced  to  prove  that  he  regarded 
it  as  one  of  the  types  of  the  Old  Testament  which  is 
fulfilled  in  the  New,  other  passages  from  his  writings 
may  be  added.  In  his  commentary  on  the  thirty- 
third  Psalm  he  says:  "There  is  a  distinction  to  be  ob- 
served  here,  however,  that  we  may  not  indiscriminately 
consider  as  applicable  to  ourselves  everything  which 
was  formerly  enjoined  upon  the  Jews.  I  have  no  doubt 
that  playing  upon  cymbals,  touching  the  harp  and  viol, 
and  all  that  kind  of  music,  which  is  so  frequently  men- 
tion,,1  in  the  Psalms,  was  a  part  of  the  education — that 
i^  to  say,  the  puerile  instruction  of  the  law.  T  speak 
of  the  stated  service  of  the  temple.     For  even  now,  if 

1  A  German  theologian.  He  argued  in  favor  of  instrumental  music 
against  ( 'alvin. 


164  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

believers  choose  to  cheer  themselves  with  musical  in- 
struments, they  should,  I  think,  make  it  their  object 
not  to  dissever  their  cheerfulness  from  the  praises  of 
God.  But  when  they  frequent  their  sacred  assemblies, 
musical  instruments  in  celebrating  the  praises  of  God 
would  be  no  more  suitable  than  the  burning  of  incense, 
the  lighting  up  of  lamps,  and  the  restoration  of  the 
other  shadows  of  the  law.  The  Papists,  therefore, 
have  foolishly  borrowed  this,  as  well  as  many  other 
things,  from  the  Jews.  Men  who  are  fond  of  outward 
pomp  may  delight  in  that  noise;  but  the  simplicity 
which  God  recommends  to  us  by  the  apostle  is  far 
more  pleasing  to  him.  Paul  allows  us  to  bless  God  in 
the  public  assembly  of  "the  saints,  only  in  a  known 
tongue  (1  Cor.  xiv.  16).  The  voice  of  man,  although 
not  understood  by  the  generality,  assuredly  excels  all 
inanimate  instruments  of  music ;  and  yet  we  see  what 
Paul  determines  concerning  speaking  in  an  unknown 
tongue.  What  shall  we  then  say  of  chanting,  which 
fills  the  ears  with  nothing  but  an  empty  sound  ?  Does 
any  one  object  that  music  is  very  useful  for  awakening 
the  minds  of  men  and  moving  their  hearts  ?  I  own  it ; 
but  we  should  always  take  care  that  no  corruption 
creep  in,  which  might  both  defile  the  pure  worship  of 
God,  and  involve  men  in  superstition.  Moreover,  since 
the  Holy  Spirit  expressly  warns  us  of  this  danger  by  the 
mouth  of  Paul,  to  proceed  beyond  what  we  are  there 
warranted  by  him  is  not  only,  I  must  say,  unadvised 
zeal,  but  wicked  and  perverse  obstinacy." 

On  Psalm  cl.  3-5  he  says :  "  I  do  not  insist  upon  the 
words  in  the  Hebrew  signifying  the  musical  instru- 
ments ;  only  let  the  reader  remember  that  sundry  dif- 


HISTORICAL  ARGUMENT.  165 

ferent  kinds  are  here  mentioned,   which   were  in   use 

ni,,l, ,-  tin  legal  economy"  etc.  On  verse  6,  "Let  every- 
thing that  hath  breath  praise  the  Lord,"  he  remarks : 

"As  yet  the  psalmist  has  addressed  himself  in  his  ex- 
hortations to  the  people  who  were  conversant  with  the 
8   under  ih<    law;   now  he  turns  to  men  in 
general,"  etc. 

In  his  homily  on  1  Sam.  xviii.  1-9,  he  delivers  him- 
self emphatically  and  solemnly  upon  the  subject:  "In 
Popery  there  was  a  ridiculous  and  unsuitable  imitation 
[of  the  Jews].  While  they  adorned  their  temples,  and 
valued  themselves  as  having  made  the  worship  of  God 
more  splendid  and  inviting,  they  employed  organs,  and 
many  other  such  ludicrous  things,  by  which  the  Word 
and  worship  of  God  are  exceedingly  profaned,  the  peo- 
ple being  much  more  attached  to  those  rites  than  to  the 
understanding  of  the  divine  Word.  We  know,  how- 
ever, that  where  such  understanding  is  not,  there  can 

be  no  edification,  as  the  apostle  Paul  teacheth 

What,  therefore,  was  in  use  under  the  law  is  by  no 
means  entitled  to  our  practice  under  the  gospel;  and 
things  being  not  only  superfluous,  but  useless,  are 
to  be  abstained  from,  because  pure  and  simple  modu- 
lation is  sufficient  for  the  praise  of  God,  if  it  is  song 
with  the  heart  and  with  the  mouth.  We  know  that  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  appeared,  and  by  his  advent  lias 
abolished  these  legal  shadows.  Instrumental  music. 
we  therefore  maintain,  was  only  tolerated  on  account 

of  the  times  and  the  people,  because  they  Were  as  boys, 

as  the  sacred  Scripture  speaketh,  whose  condition  re- 
quired these  puerile  rudiments.  But  in  gospel  times 
we  must  not  have  recourse  to  these  unless  we  wish  to 

*5 


166  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

destroy  the  evangelical  perfection,  and  to  obscure  the 
meridian  light  which  we  enjoy  in  Christ  our  Lord." 

In  these  views  of  his  illustrious  colleague  Beza  con- 
curred.1 "If,"  says  he,  "the  apostle  justly  prohibits 
the  use  of  unknown  tongues  in  the  church,  much  less 
would  he  have  tolerated  these  artificial  musical  perform- 
ances which  are  addressed  to  the  ear  alone,  and  seldom 
strike  the  understanding  even  of  the  performers  them- 
selves." 

The  French  Protestant  Church,  which  was  organized 
mainly  through  the  influence  and  counsels  of  Calvin, 
naturally  adopted  his  views  in  regard  to  worship  as 
well  as  doctrine  and  government.  Consequently,  as  the 
Reformer  did  not  oppose  the  use  of  a  moderate  and 
evangelical  liturgy,  that  church  following  his  lead  em- 
ployed one  that  was  permissive,  that  is,  not  imposed  by 
authority.  One  may  wonder  that  Calvin,  who  unequiv- 
ocally enounced  the  great  principle  that  whatsoever  is 
not  commanded  is  forbidden,  did  not  see  the  applica- 
tion of  that  principle  to  liturgical  services,  at  least  did 
not  make  that  application  practically.  It  would  be  ir- 
relevant to  the  design  of  this  discussion  to  consider  that 
question  as  one  of  fact.  We  know  that  the  French  Re- 
formed Church  acted  in  accordance  with  his  views  on 
that  subject ;  and  it  may  be  said,  in  passing,  that  it  has 
been  a  matter  of  observation  that  the  use  of  a  liturgy 
by  the  Huguenot  immigrants  to  this  country  has  been 
a  snare,  which  has  had  influence  in  leading  many  of 
them  to  abandon  the  church  of  their  fathers  that  was 
so  definitely  opposed  to  prelacy,  and  identify  themselves 
with  a  prelatic  communion.     Reading  the  case  back- 

1  In  Colloq.  Mompelg.,  Pars  2,  p.  26. 


HISTORICAL  ARGUMENT.  1(>7 

want,  we  can  Bee  that  whatever  may  have  bees  the  rea- 
sons which  governed  the  Reformer  in  declining  to  apply 
the  mighty  principle  mentioned  to  a  liturgy,  they  have 
not  been  sustained  by  events.  And  it  is  somewhat 
curious,  at  least  it  is  a  striking  circumstance  inviting 
attention  to  its  causes,  that  the  Scottish  and  American 
churches  which  are  now  generally  opposed  to  a  liturgy, 
as  Calvin  was  not.  are  more  and  more  adopting  instru- 
mental music  to  which  he  was  opposed. 

But  the  fact  here  emphasized  is  that  the  French  Re- 
formed Church,  in  its  day  of  efficiency  and  glory,  ex- 
cluded instrumental  music  from  its  services.  Nor  is 
the  example  a  mean  one.  It  was  that  of  a  great  church, 
as  illustrious  an  exponent  of  the  principles  of  Presby- 
terianism,  with  the  exception  which  has  just  been  in- 
dicated and  its  alliance  with  the  state,  as  has  existed 
since  the  days  of  the  apostles.  These  principles  were 
not  worn  as  a  uniform  on  parade,  but  were  maintained 
through  blood  and  flame.  A  few  extracts  from  Quick's 
valuable  work,  Synodicon  in  Gallia  JReformata,  will  illu- 
minate this  point  as  with  a  lurid  glare.  "Whilst,"  says 
he,1  "Mystical  Babylon,  spiritual  Sodom  and  Egypt 
( where  our  Lord  hath  been  in  his  most  precious  truths 
and  ordinances,  and  in  his  dearest  saints  and  members, 
for  many  ages  successively  crucified),  did  swim  in  the 
calm  ocean  of  worldly  riches  and  grandeur,  in  the 
pacific  seas  of  peculiar  felicities  and  pleasures,  poor 
Zion  in  that  bloody  kingdom  of  France  hath  been  in 
the  storms  and  flames,  hath  passed  from  one  fiery  trial 
to  another,  from  cauldrons  of  boiling  oil  into  burning 
furnaces  heated  with  fire  seven  times  hotter  than  before ; 

1  Epistle  Dedicatory. 


168  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

she  hath  been  driven  from  populous  cities  and  the  pleas- 
ant habitations  of  men  unto  the  cold,  snowy  Lebanon, 
to  the  high  craggy  tops  of  Amana  and  Shenir,  to  the 
frightful  dens  of  lions,  and  to  the  horrid  mountains  of 
dragons  and  leopards."  Is  this  extravagant  declama- 
tion ?     Let  us  glance  at  some  of  the  facts. 

"  In  the  national  Synod  of  Rochelle,  in  the  year  1571, 
Mr.  Beza  presiding  in  it,  the  Reformed  could  count 
then  above  two  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty  churches ; 
and  in  many  of  these  above  ten  thousand  members,  and 
in  most  of  these  two  ministers,  in  some  they  had  five, 
as  in  the  year  1561  there  served  the  church  of  Orleans 
(which  at  that  time  had  seven  thousand  communicants) 
Anthony  Chanoriet,  Lord  of  Meringeau,  Robert  Macon, 
Lord  des  Fontaines,  Hugh  Sureau,  Nicholas  Fillon, 
Lord  of  Vails,  and  Daniel  Tossane,  who  afterwards 
died  at  Heidelberg  in  the  Palatinate.  When  the  Col- 
loquy [our  Presbytery]  of  Poissy  was  held,  they  had  in 
the  one  only  province  of  Normandy  three  hundred  and 
five  pastors  of  churches,  and  in  the  province  of  Pro- 
vence three-score.  And  I  remember  the  author  of  Le 
Cabinet  du  Boy  de  France,  a  book  printed  in  the -year 
1581,  and  dedicated  to  Henry  the  Third,  makes  a  com- 
putation of  their  martyrs  to  have  been  in  a  very  few 
years  at  least  200,000  cut  off  for  the  gospel,  and  he 
makes  up  his  account  thus :  '  Allow,'  saith  he,  '  but  a 
hundred  martyrs  to  every  church,  and  you  have  the 
sum ;  and  yet  'tis  as  clear  as  the  sun  at  noonday  that 
the  sum  is  vastly  more.  For  'tis  a  truth  incontestable, 
that  there  have  been  cut  off  by  the  sword  and  massa- 
cres for  religion  from  the  church  of  Caen  above  15,000 
or  16,000,  from  the  church  of  Alencon  5,000,  from  the 


HISTORICAL  ARGUMENT,  169 

church  of  Paris  13,000  from  the  church  of  Rheims 
12,000,  from  the  church  of  Troves  12,000,  from  the 
church  of  Sens  0,000,  from  the  church  of  Orleans  8,000, 
from  the  church  of  Angiers  7,000,  and  from  the  church 
of  Poictiers  12,000  persons,  etc.'  Livre  premier,  pp. 
274-277." " 

Quick  makes  this  remarkable  statement,2  which  I  can- 
not forbear  quoting,  concerning  the  powerful  influence 
exerted  by  the  simple  singing  of  psalms  upon  the  French 
people  at  the  beginning  of  the  Protestant  Reformation  : 
"Clement  Marot,  a  courtier  and  a  great  wit,  was  ad- 
vised by  Mr.  Yatablus,  Regius  Professor  of  the  Hebrew 
tongue  in  the  University  of  Paris,  to  consecrate  his 
muse  unto  God;  which  counsel  he  embraceth  and 
translateth  fifty  of  David's  psalms  into  French  meter. 
Mr.  Beza  did  the  other  hundred  and  all  the  Scripture 
songs.  Lewis  Guadimel,  another  Asaph  or  Jeduthun, 
a  most  skilful  master  of  music,  set  those  sweet  and 
melodious  tunes  unto  which  they  are  sung  even  unto 
this  day.  This  holy  ordinance  charmed  the  ears,  hearts 
and  affections  of  court  and  city,  town  and  country. 
They  were  sung  in  the  Louvre,  as  well  as  in  the  Pres-des- 
Clercs,  by  ladies,  princes,  yea,  and  by  Henry  the  Second 
himself.  This  one  ordinance  only  contributed  mightily 
to  the  downfall  of  Popery,  and  the  propagation  of  the 
gospel.  It  took  so  much  with  the  genius  of  the  nation, 
that  all  ranks  and  degrees  of  men  practised  it  in  the 
temples  and  in  their  families.  No  gentleman  profess- 
ing the  Reformed  religion  would  sit  down  at  his  table 
without  praising  God  by  singing.  Yea,  it  was  a  special 
part  of  their  morning  and  evening  worship  in  their  sev- 

1  Introduction,  pp.  lix.,  lx.  2  Ibid.,  p.  v. 


-X^StiJ 


170  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

eral  houses  to  sing  God's  praises.  The  Popish  clergy 
raged,  and,  to  prevent  the  growth  and  spreading  of  the 
gospel  by  it,  that  mischievous  Cardinal  of  Lorraine, 
another  Elymas  the  sorcerer,  got  the  odes  of  Horace 
and  the  filthy,  obscene  poems  of  Tibullus  and  Catullus 
to  be  turned  into  French  and  sung  at  the  court.  Ri- 
balclry  was  his  piety,  and  the  means  used  by  him  to 
expel  and  banish  the  singing  of  divine  psalms  out  of 
the  profane  court  of  France." 

Whatever  may  be  the  practice  in  recent  times  of  the 
churches  of  Holland,  the  Synods  of  the  Reformed 
Dutch  Church,  soon  after  the  Reformation,  pronounced 
very  decidedly  against  the  use  of  instrumental  music  in 
public  worship.  The  National  Synod  at  Middleburg, 
in  1581,  declared  against  it,  and  the  Synod  of  Holland 
and  Zealand,  in  1594,  adopted  this  strong  resolution  : 
"  That  they  would  endeavor  to  obtain  of  the  magistrate 
the  laying  aside  of  organs,  and  the  singing  with  them 
in  the  churches,  even  out  of  the  time  of  worship,  either 
before  or  after  sermons."  The  Provincial  Synod  of 
Dort  also  inveighed  severely  against  their  use. 

Some  testimonies  are  added  from  distinguished  con- 
tinental theologians.  Pareus,  commenting  on  1  Cor. 
xiv.  7,  says  :  "In  the  Christian  church  the  mind  must 
be  incited  to  spiritual  joy,  not  by  pipes  and  trumpets 
and  timbrels,  with  which  God  formerly  indulged  his 
ancient  people  on  account  of  the  hardness  of  their 
hearts,  but  by  psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs." 

"  Instrumental  music,"  remarks  Zepperus,1  "  in  the 
religious  worship  of  the  Jews,  belonged  to  the  ceremo- 
nial law,  which  is  now  abolished.     It  is  evident  that  it 

1  Be  Lege  Mosaica,  Lib.  iv. 


HISTORICAL  ARGUMENT.  171 

is  contrary  to  the  precept  and  rule  of  Paul,  who  (1  Cor. 
xiv.  i  wills  that  in  Christian  assemblies  everything  should 
be  done  for  edification,  that  others  may  understand 
and  be  reformed  ;  so  even  that  of  speaking  in  unknown 
tongues  should  be  banished  from  the  church  ;  much 
less  should  that  jarring  organic  music,  which  produceth 
a  gabbling  of  many  voices,  be  allowed,  with  its  pipes 
and  trumpets  and  whistles,  making  our  churches  re- 
sound. Day,  bellow  and  roar.  ...  In  some  of  the  Ke- 
forrned  churches  these  musical  instruments  are  retained, 
but  they  are  not  played  until  the  congregation  is  dis- 
missed, all  the  parts  of  divine  worship  being  finished. 
And  they  are  then  used  for  a  political  |  civil  |  purpose, 
to  gratify  those  who  seek  pleasure  from  sound  and  har- 
mony." 

Molerus,  on  the  150th  Psalm,  observes  :  "  It  is  no 
wonder,  therefore,  that  such  a  number  of  musical  in- 
struments should  be  so  heaped  together ;  but  although 
they  were  a  part  of  the  Pcedagogia  Legalis  |  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  law  |,  yet  they  were  not  for  that  reason  to  be 
brought  into  Christian  assemblies.  For  God  willeth 
that,  after  the  coming  of  Christ,  his  people  should  cul- 
tivate the  hope  of  eternal  life  and  the  practice  of  true 
piety  by  very  different  and  more  simple  means  than 
these."  l 

Gisbertus  Voetius  argues  at  length  against  the  use 
of  instrumental  music  in  churches  in  his  Ecclesiastical 
Polity,  a  work  which  is  held  in  high  estimation  among 
Presbyterians.1     The  argument  is  characterized  by  the 

1  The  three  foregoing  testimonies  are  extracted  from  the  report  of  a 
committee  to  the  Presbytery  of  Glasgow  in  1808. 

Part  i.  Oap.  iii.,  De  Organuet  <'<int"  Orgai tfeo  in  Sacris. 


172  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  'WORSHIP. 

great  ability  for  which  the  author  was  noted,  but  it  is 
too  elaborate  to  be  here  cited. 

It  might  seem  hopeless  to  get  from  the  Church  of 
England  a  testimony  against  the  employment  of  instru- 
ments in  worship  ;  but  when  her  first  love  was  warmed 
by  the  blessed  influence  of  the  reformation  from 
Popery,  she  spoke  in  no  uncertain  sounds  on  the  sub- 
ject. In  her  homily  "Of  the  Place  and  Time  of 
Prayer"  these  notable  words  occur  :  "  God's  vengeance 
hath  been  and  is  daily  provoked,  because  much  wicked 
people  pass  nothing  to  resort  to  the  church  ;  either  for 
that  they  are  so  sore  blinded  that  they  understand  no- 
thing of  God  or  godliness,  and  care  not  with  devilish 
example  to  offend  their  neighbors  ;  or  else  for  that  they 
see  the  church  altogether  scoured  of  such  gay,  gazing 
sights  as  their  gross  phantasie  was  greatly  delighted 
with;  because  they  see  the  false  religion  abandoned 
and  the  true  restored,  which  seemeth  an  unsavory  thing 
to  their  unsavory  taste  ;  as  may  appear  by  this,  that  a 
woman  said  to  her  neighbor,  '  Alas,  gossip,  what  shall 
we  now  do  at  church,  since  all  the  saints  are  taken 
away ;  since  all  the  goodly  sights  we  were  wont  to  have 
are  gone ;  since  we  cannot  hear  the  like  piping,  sing- 
ing, chaunting,  and  playing  upon  the  organs  that  we 
could  before ! '  But,  dearly  beloved,  we  ought  greatly 
to  rejoice  and  give  God  thanks  that  our  churches  are 
delivered  out  of  all  those  things  which  displeased  God 
so  sore  and  filthily  defiled  his  holy  house  and  his  place 
of  prayer." 

The  thirty -two  godly  and  learned  commissioners  ap- 
pointed by  King  Edward  VI.  to  reform  ecclesiastical 


HISTORICAL  ARGUMENT.  173 

laws  and  observances  submitted  the  following  advice:1 
"In  reading  chapters  and  singing  psalms,  ministers  and 

clergymen  must  think  of  this  diligently,  that  God  is  not 
only  to  be  praised  by  them,  but  that  others  are  to  be 
brought  to  perform  the  same  worship  by  their  counsel 
and  example.  Wherefore,  let  them  pronounce  their 
words  distinctly,  and  let  their  singing  be  clear  and  easy, 
that  everything  may  be  understood  by  the  auditors.  So 
that  'tis  our  pleasure,  that  the  quavering  operose  music 
which  is  called  figured  should  be  wholly  laid  aside,2 
since  it  often  makes  such  a  noise  in  the  ears  of  the  peo- 
ple that  they  cannot  understand  what  is  said."  "  Cer- 
tainly,'' says  Ames  in  answer  to  the  taunts  of  Dr.  Bur- 
_'  bs,  "these  were  neither  distracted  uor  stupid  men; 
whence  their  prejudice  came,  let  the  Rejoinder  himself 
judge."3 

"In  the  English  Convocation,  held  in  the  year  1562, 
in  Queen  Elizabeth's  time,  for  settling  the  Liturgy,  the 
retaining  of  the  custom  of  kneeling  at  the  sacrament,  of 
the  cross  in  baptism,  and  of  organs,  carried  only  by  the 
casting  vote.'' '  Hetherington's  account  of  the  matter  is 
as  follows:5  "  In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1562,  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Convocation  was  held,  in  which  the  subject 
of  further  reformatio]]  was  vigorously  discussed  on  both 
sid.  s  .  .  .  [Among  the  alterations  proposed  was  this]  : 
'That  the  use  of  organs  be  laid  aside.'  When  tin;  vote 
came   to   be   taken,   on   these  propositions,   forty-three 

1  Reform.  /.■:!.  <'■  Dw.  Offic.,  Cap.  v. 
•■  Vibratam  ill'iiii  if  operosam  musicam,  qiUBfigivratadicitwr,  auferri 
placet." 

,<■!,  Gerem.,  p.  40G. 
4  Dr.  HmrffiHitt.,  Btrype's  Annals,  p. 
Witt.  Wettmmter  Assembly,  p.  80. 


174  INSTEUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

voted  for  them  and  thirty-five  against ;  bnt  when  the 
proxies  were  counted,  the  balance  was  turned ;  the  final 
state  of  the  vote  being  fifty-eight  for  and  fifty-nine 
against.  Thus  it  was  determined  by  a  single  vote,  and 
that  the  proxy  of  an  absent  person  who  did  not  hear  the 
reasoning  that  the  Prayer-Book  should  remain  unim- 
proved, that  there  should  be  no  further  reformation, 
that  there  should  be  no  relief  granted  to  those  whose 
consciences  felt  aggrieved  by  the  admixture  of  human 
inventions  in  the  worship  of  God." 

In  1564,  during  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign,  considera- 
ble discussion  was  had  touching  the  use  of  vestments 
in  public  worship.  Bishop  Horn  wrote  to  Gualter  at 
Zurich  about  the  matter.  He  and  Bullinger  replied  to 
him  recommending  moderation.  Whereupon  Samson 
and  Humphrey,  in  February,  1565,  wrote  to  the  Zurich 
divines  giving  "a  copious  account  of  the  grounds  on 
which  they  founded  their  refusal  to  obey"  the  orders  of 
the  Queen  and  Parliament.  Bullinger  answered  them 
by  again  recommending  moderation.1  This  letter  of 
Bullinger  to  Samson  and  Humphrey  was  sent  to  Horn 
and  Grindal,  who  published  it.  "Upon  this  Samson 
and  Humphrey  wrote  to  Zurich  complaining  of  the 
printing  their  letter,  and  carried  their  complaints  much 
further  than  to  the  matter  of  the  vestments :  they  com- 
plained of  the  music  and  organs,  of  making  sponsors  in 
baptism  answer  in  the  child's  name,  of  the  Court  of 
Faculties,  and  the  praying  for  dispensations."2 

1  One  is  here  reminded  of  Luther's  words :  ' '  Too  much  discretion  is 
displeasing  to  God." 

2  The  author  of  Primitive  Truth,  citing  Bp.  Burnet,  Reformation, 
Vol.  iii.,  pp.  308-310. 


HISTORICAL  ARGUMENT.       <  175 

These  facts  are  sufficient  to  show  that  the  Church  of 
England  was  at  one  time  on  the  verge  of  eliminating 
instrumental  music  along  with  other  relics  of  Popery 
from  her  public  services  ;  and  had  she  been  thoroughly 
reformed  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  her  purest 
divines  she  would  have  conformed  her  practice,  in  this 
matter,  to  that  of  the  Eeformed  churches  on  the  conti- 
nent. But  the  taste  and  the  will  of  an  arbitrary  female 
head  of  the  church  determined  her  usages  in  a  contrary 
direction.  The  history  deserves  to  be  pondered  most 
seriously. 

What  were  the  views  of  the  English  Puritans  on  this 
subject  has  already  been  indicated  when  the  question 
was  under  consideration  in  regard  to  the  position  as- 
sumed concerning  it  by  the  Westminster  Assembly  of 
Divines.  It  is  not  necessary  to  exhibit  their  sentiments 
by  further  appeals  to  authority.  To  their  almost  unan- 
imous opposition  to  instrumental  music  in  the  public 
worship  of  the  church,  as  unscriptural  and  Popish, 
there  were  some  exceptions,  among  wdiom  was  the  justly 
celebrated  Eichard  Baxter,  a  great  man,  but  neither  a 
great  Calvinist  nor  a  great  Presbyterian.  Those  who 
wish  to  see  his  arguments  in  favor  of  a  temperate  em- 
ployment of  instrumental  music  in  church-worship  can 
find  them  in  the  fifth  volume  of  his  works,  edited  by 
Orme,  page  499 :  arguments  about  as  weak  as  those  by 
which  he  attempted  to  support  the  Grotian  theory  of  the 
atonement.  As  they  may,  to  some  extent,  be  consid- 
ered in  the  examination  of  the  arguments  in  favor  of 
instrumental  music,  they  will  not  be  noticed  in  this 
place.  I  cannot  pass  from  this  reference  to  the  Eng- 
lish Puritans  without  pausing  to  express  the  convic- 


176  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

tion  that,  whatever  may  have  been  some  of  their  pecu- 
liar characteristics — and  even  these  have  been  magni- 
fied and  caricatured  by  opponents  who  were  partly  or 
wholly  destitute  of  their  religious  earnestness — no 
purer  exponents  of  the  truth  of  God  as  set  forth  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures  have  existed  on  earth  since  the  days 
of  the  apostles;  and  the  growing  defection  from  the 
views  they  maintained  touching  the  purity  of  worship, 
which  now  conspicuously  marks  the  English-speaking 
non-prelatic  churches,  carries  in  it  the  ominous  symp- 
toms of  apostasy  from  the  gospel.  Some  few  yet  stand 
firm  against  what  is  now  called,  in  a  painfully  signifi- 
cant phrase,  the  "  down-grade  "  tendencies  of  this  age. 
Prominent  among  them  is  that  eminent  servant  of  Christ 
— a  star  in  his  right  hand — the  Eev.  Charles  H.  Spur- 
geon,  who  not  only  proclaims  with  power  the  pure  doc- 
trines of  God's  Word,  but  retains  and  upholds  an  apos- 
tolic simplicity  of  worship.  The  great  congregation 
which  is  blessed  with  the  privilege  of  listening  to  his 
instructions  has  no  organ  "to  assist"  them  in  singing 
their  praises  to  their  God  and  Saviour.  They  find  their 
vocal  organs  sufficient.  Their  tongues  and  voices  ex- 
press the  gratitude  of  their  hearts. 

It  is  almost  needless  to  cite  the  example  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland.  She  was — with  the  exception  of  an  un- 
holy alliance  between  the  church  and  the  state,  a  bane- 
ful source  of  incalculable  evils,  "a  spring  of  woes  un- 
numbered," to  the  former — a  glorious  instance  of  a 
church  as  completely  reformed  as  could  be  expected  in 
this  present,  imperfect,  pre-millennial  condition.  Even 
the  permissive  liturgy  of  John  Knox  she  soon  threw  off 
as  a  swathing  band  from  her  free  limbs,  and  for  cen- 


HISTORICAL  ARGUMENT.  177 

turies  she  knew  nothing  <>f  instrumental  music  in  her 

public*  services.  Would  that  she  now  retained  this 
primitive  purity  of  worship!  But  within  a  half-cen- 
tury back,  in  consequence  of  the  agitation  persistently 
pursued  by  some  who  clamored  for  a  more  artistic 
''celebration"  of  worship,  the  Established  Church  re- 
laxed its  testimony,  and  consented  to  make  the  ques- 
tion of  instrumental  music  an  "open"  one — that  is,  the 
matter  was  left  to  the  option  of  individual  congrega- 
tions. Meanwhile  the  Free  Church  stood  firm,  and  has 
so  stood  until  recently.  Dr.  Begg,  in  his  work  on 
organs,  could  express  his  gratitude  for  the  conservative 
attitude  of  his  church  on  the  subject,  and  Dr.  Candlish 
deprecated  the  discussion  of  the  question  as  fraught 
with  peril.  But  they  have  fallen  asleep,  and  the 
church  of  their  love  is  now,  by  the  action  of  her  Pres- 
byteries, making  it  an  "open  question."  The  flood- 
gates are  up,  and  the  result  is  by  no  means  uncertain : 
the  experience  of  the  American  Presbyterian  Church 
will  be  that  of  the  Scottish. 

The  Irish  Presbyterian  Church  has  for  years  seri- 
ously debated  the  question  in  her  General  Assembly. 
So  far  she  has  refused  to  make  it  an  open  one;  but 
the  pressure  of  a  heavy  minority,  it  may  almost  with 
certainty  be  expected,  will  prevail  in  breaking  through 
the  dykes  of  scriptural  conservatism.  The  fact,  how- 
ever, that  to  the  present  hour  that  noble  church  main- 
tains its  opposition  to  instrumental  music  contributes 
no  unimportant  element  to  the  historical  argument 
against  its  use.  It  is  likely  that  the  question  has  never 
been  subjected  to  so  thorough-going  an  examination  as 
it  has  met  in  the  protracted  discussions  of  her  supreme 
16 


178  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

court.  She  is  now  almost  the  last  great  witness  for  the 
simple  singing  of  praise  in  public  worship.  Should 
the  standard  of  her  testimony  go  down,  it  must  be  left 
to  small,  seceded  bodies,  or  to  individuals,  to  continue 
the  witness-bearing  and  the  contest  for  a  simplicity  of 
worship  from  which  the  majority  in  the  church  have 
apostatized. 

The  non-prelatic  churches,  Independent  and  Presby- 
terian, began  their  development  on  the  American  con- 
tinent without  instrumental  music.  They  followed  the 
English  Puritans  and  the  Scottish  Church,  which  had 
adopted  the  principles  of  the  Calvinistic  Reformed 
Church.  How  the  organ  came  to  be  gradually  intro- 
duced into  them  it  were  bootless  to  inquire.  They  be- 
gan right,  but  have  more  and  more  departed  from  the 
simple  genius  of  Christian  worship.  On  what  grounds 
they  have  done  this  it  would  be  well  for  them  to  stop 
and  inquire.  For  if  there  be  any  force  in  argument, 
their  present  position  cannot  be  maintained.  It  is  a 
clear  departure  from  the  practice  of  the  church,  both 
early  and  reformed.  The  United  Presbyterian  Church 
has  but  recently  given  way.  A  respectable  minority 
opposes  the  defection,  but  what  the  issue  will  be  events 
do  not  yet  furnish  sufficient  data  to  determine.  The 
Associate  Reformed  Church  has  not  yet  receded  from 
the- pure  principles  and  practice  of  their  forefathers. 
May  God  grant  them  grace  to  continue  in  their  main- 
tenance !  The  time  may  ere  long  come  when  those  who 
stand  on  these  principles  and  refuse  to  yield  to  the  de- 
mands of  a  latitudinarian  age  will  be  attracted  by  ad- 
herence to  a  common  sentiment  towards  a  formal  union 
with  each  other.     It  may  be  made  a  question  whether 


HISTORICAL  ARGUMENT.  179 

tlic  retention  of  a  pure  gospel-worship  does  not  consti- 
tute a  reason  for  the  existence  of  a  distinctive  organi- 
zation. 

It  lias  thus  beep  proved,  by  an  appeal  to  historical 

facts,  that  the  church,  although  lapsing  more  and  more 
into  defection  from  the  truth  and  into  a  corruption  of 
apostolic  practice,  had  no  instrumental  music  for  twelve 
hundred  years;  and  that  the  Calvinistic  Reformed 
Church  ejected  it  from  its  services  as  an  element  of 
Popery,  even  the  Church  of  England  having  come  very 
nigh  to  its  extrusion  from  her  worship.  The  histori- 
cal argument,  therefore,  combines  with  the  scriptural 
and  the  confessional  to  raise  a  solemn  and  powerful 
protest  against  its  employment  by  the  Presbyterian 
Church.     It  is  heresy  in  the  sphere  of  worship. 


VI. 

Arguments  in  Favor  of  Instrumental  Music 
Considered. 

In  the  preceding  argument  the  appeal  has  been  taken 
to  the  Scriptures  and  to  the  Presbyterian  standards  as 
interpreting  them;  and  historical  proofs  of  the  prac- 
tice of  the  church  have,  in  addition,  been  presented 
chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  showing  what  was  the  usage 
of  the  apostles  and  of  the  churches  which  they  organ- 
ized. Any  arguments  produced  in  favor  of  instrumen- 
tal music  in  the  public  worship  of  the  church  must 
profess  to  be  grounded  in  the  same  considerations — 
that  is,  they  must  assume  to  be  derived  from  the  same 
sources  as  those  from  which  the  foregoing  proofs  have 
been  sought,  or  they  are  to  be  regarded  as  unworthy 
of  answers.  Those  founded  upon  human  taste  or  wis- 
dom trifle  with  the  gravity  of  the  subject.  They  refer 
to  a  standard  which  can  have  no  possible  authority  in 
a  question  which  concerns  the  public  worship  of  God. 
Such  are  the  common  arguments,  for  example,  that 
instrumental  music  assists  devotion,  that  it  stimulates 
and  exalts  religious  feeling,  and  that  it  imparts  dignity, 
grace  and  attractiveness  to  the  services  of  the  church. 
They  are  all  based  upon  expediency,  and  are  therefore 
irrelevant  to  the  consideration  of  a  question  which  can 
only  be  legitimately  decided  by  the  expressed  authority 
of  God.  There  is  no  middle  ground  between  submis- 
sion to  God's  revealed  will  and  a  worship  dictated  by 


ABGUMENTS  FOR  INaTBUMENTAL  BCUSIOt  181 

the  fancies  of  sinners.  Only  two  sorts  of  argument 
consequently,  will  now  be  examined: 

1.  Those  which  profess  to  be  derived  immediately 
from  the  Scriptures. 

(1.)  It  is  urged  that  God  himself  has  sanctioned  the 
use  of  instrumental  music  in  public  worship,  and  the 
Scriptures  are  pleaded  in  proof  of  this  assertion.  Surely 
what  God  has  approved  must  be  right;  it  cannot  be 
condemned  by  man.  The  fallacy  here  consists  in  the" 
affirmation  that  what  God  approved  at  a  certain  place, 
at  a  certain  time,  and  in  certain  circumstances,  he  ap- 
proves at  all  places,  at  all  times,  and  in  all  circumstan- 
ces. It  is  forgotten  that  there  is  a  distinction  between 
moral  laws  founded  in  the  eternal  nature  of  God,  which 
are  immutable,  and  positive  enactments  grounded  in 
the  special  determinations  of  his  will,  which  may  be 
changed  at  his  pleasure.  He  gave  to  Adam  permis- 
sion to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life  in  Paradise ;  he  revoked 
it  when  he  fell.  He  commanded  his  people  in  the  old 
dispensation  to  observe  circumcision  and  the  passover ; 
he  has  in  the  new  changed  that  enactment,  and  com- 
mands them  to  observe  baptism  and  the  Lord's  sup- 
per. He  once  commanded  them  to  offer  bloody  sacri- 
fices, and  to  observe  other  special  rites  at  the  temple ; 
he  now  commands  them  to  refrain  from  what  were  at 
that  time  binding  duties.  And  even  during  the  time 
when  it  was  obligatory  to  offer  sacrificial  and  t\*pical 
worship  at  a  certain  place — the  temple,  he  forbade 
them  to  present  it  at  another  place — the  synagogue. 
In  like  manner,  there  was  a  time  when  he  positively 
commanded  the  use  of  instrumental  music  at  the  tem- 
ple and  prohibited  its  use  in  the  synagogue;  and  since 


182  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

the  temple  with  its  distinctive  services  has  passed  away, 
he  forbids  the  employment  of  it  now  in  any  place. 
God  approved  circumcision,  the  passover,  the  offering 
of  sacrifice,  meat  offerings,  drink  offerings,  ablutions, 
and  the  like.  Therefore  he  approves  them  at  all  times, 
and  approves  them  now.  Such  is  the  logic  of  the  argu- 
ment under  consideration.  Will  the  Christian  now 
circumcise  his  children,  eat  the  passover,  offer  sacrifices, 
bloody  and  unbloody,  and  employ  ablutions  in  his  wor- 
ship? Why  not?  Did  not  God  once  approve  them? 
The  reed  pierces  the  hand  that  leans  upon  it.  The 
argument  proves  too  much,  and  is  in  many  respects 
confessed  to  be  worthless.  God  did  once  approve  in- 
strumental music.  Granted ;  but  does  that  show  that 
he  approves  it  now?  On  the  contrary,  he  condemns  it 
now.  It  was  one  of  those  positive  enactments  which 
he  has  been  pleased  to  change.  It  may  be  replied,  that 
when  he  has  willed  the  disuse  of  an  ancient  ordinance, 
he  has  substituted  another  in  its  place ;  baptism,  for 
instance,  in  the  room  of  circumcision,  and  the  Lord's 
supper  in  lieu  of  the  passover ;  but  the  same  does  not 
hold  in  regard  to  instrumental  music.  But,  in  the  first 
place,  this  is  not  universally  true.  What  has  he  sub- 
stituted for  sacrificial  worship?  In  the  second  place, 
he  has  substituted  simple  singing  in  the  place  of  sing- 
ing with  the  accompaniment  of  instruments.  In  a 
word,  God  once  approved  the  whole  ritual  of  the  tem- 
ple. He  disapproves  it  now ;  and  he  who  would  intro- 
duce any  part  of  it  into  the  Christian  church  turns  Jew 
and  revolts  from  Christ  to  Moses.  This  is  true  of  in- 
strumental music,  as  has  been  already  proved. 

(2.)  Instrumental  music  is  not  condemned  or  pro- 


ARGUMENTS  FOB  [NSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC.  183 

hibited  in  the  New  Testament  Scriptures.  This  posi- 
tion could  be  consistently  taken  only  by  a  Prelatist  of 
the  Ritualistic  Bchool,  who  contends  that  the  church  is 
clothed  with  a  discretionary  power  to  decree  rites  and 
ceremonies;  and  we  have  seen  that  even  the  Convoca- 
tion of  the  English  Church  that  adopted  the  Thirty-nine 
Articles  did  not  incorporate  into  them  such  a  principle. 
To  those  who  cherish  a  respect  for  the  doctrines  of  the 
Reformed  Church,  of  the  English  Puritans,  and  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland  the  principle  is  of  cardinal  value, 
that  whatsoever  is  not  commanded,  either  explicitly  or 
implicitly,  in  the  New  Testament  Scriptures  is  forbid- 
den to  the  New  Testament  church.  It  is  enough  to 
them  that  those  Scriptures  are  silent  concerning  any 
practice,  to  secure  its  exclusion  from  the  services  of  the 
church.  It  has  at  the  outset  of  this  discussion  been 
shown,  that  under  the  Old  Testament  dispensation  a 
divine  warrant  was  necessary  to  the  introduction  of 
any  element  into  the  public  worship  of  God's  house. 
Every  thing  was  shut  out  in  respect  to  which  it  could 
be  said  that  God  "commanded  it  not;"  and  in  those  in- 
stances in  which  his  silence  wTas  taken  advantage  of  to 
inject  into  his  worship  what  the  will  or  wisdom  of  man 
dictated,  his  anger  smoked  against  the  invader  of  his 
prerogative.  What  proof  is  there  that  the  same  prin- 
ciple does  not  prevail  in  the  new  dispensation?  The 
New  Testament  closes  with  the  prohibitory  statute,  en- 
forced in  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  against  adding 
to  or  taking  from  the  words  of  God.  Nothing  is  left  to 
human  discretion  but  those  natural  circumstances  which 
condition  the  actions  of  all  human  societies.  The 
Scriptures  are  sufficient  for  all  the  wants  of  the  church. 


184  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  In  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

Their  prescriptions  thoroughly  furnish  the  man  of  God 
for  all  good  works.  He  who  advocates  the  infusion 
into  the  worship  of  the  church  of  what  God  has  not 
authorized  takes  the  ground  that  the  Scriptures  are  not 
sufficient,  and  that  human  wisdom  is  entitled  to  supple- 
ment its  defects ;  he  claims  to  be  wiser  than  the  Head 
of  the  church  himself. 

Instrumental  music  is  prohibited  by  the  absence  of 
any  warrant  in  the  New  Testament  for  its  use ;  it  is  pro- 
hibited  by  the  declaration  that  the  temple- worship, 
with  all  its  peculiar  appurtenances,  is  abolished ;  it  is 
prohibited  by  the  fact  that  it  is  not  included  in  the  in- 
spired enumeration  of  the  elements  of  public  worship ; 
and  it  is  prohibited  by  the  practice  of  the  apostles, 
which  must  be  deemed  regulative  of  the  customs  of  the 
church  by  all  who  revere  the  authority  of  inspiration. 

(3.)  Instrumental  music  is  justified  in  the  church  on 
earth  by  the  consideration  that  it  is  represented  as  em- 
ployed in  the  church  in  heaven.  Are  we  not  to  be 
heavenly-minded  ?  Whether  the  language  of  the  Apo- 
calyptic seer  is  to  be  interpreted  literally  or  not, 
whether  harpers  will  harp  on  real  harps  in  heaven  or 
not,  it  is  not  material  to  the  present  purpose  to  deter- 
mine. If  it  be  admitted  that  instrumental  music  will 
be  employed  in  heaven,  this  argument  will  not  be 
helped,  It  would  be  invalid,  because  it  would  prove 
too  much,  All  that  the  glorified  saints  will  experience 
in  heaven  cannot,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  be  real- 
ized on  earth,  They  will  not  need  to  confess  and  de- 
plore continually  recurring  sins,  but  we  are  obliged  to 
do  so  below,  They  will  sing,  but  they  will  hardly  chant 
in  mournful  strains ; 


ARGUMENTS  FOR  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC.  185 

"  Show  pity,  Lord,  O  Lord,  forgive, 

Let  a  repenting  rebel  live ; 

Are  not  thy  mercies  large  and  free, 

May  not  a  sinner  trust  in  thee  ? 
"  Should  sudden  vengeance  seize  my  breath, 

I  must  pronounce  thee  just  in  death; 

And  if  my  soul  were  sent  to  hell, 

Thy  righteous  law  approves  it  well." 

Thus  we  sing,  however,  till  our  dying  breath.  One 
of  the  holiest  ministers  I  ever  knew,  at  ninety-three 
years  of  age,  on  the  verge  of  his  translation  to  glory, 
wrote  that  he  was  constrained  to  sing  those  penitential 
words.  It  is  not  likely  that  they  wet  the  sacramental 
bread  with  the  tears  of  penitence,  but  this  we  do  while 
we  obey  the  injunction  of  our  Lord,  "Do  this  in  re- 
membrance of  me."  They  neither  marry  nor  are  given 
in  marriage,  but  it  would  scarcely  be  legitimate  for  us 
to  argue  from  their  example  to  what  our  practice  should 
be.  If  we  did,  the  church  on  earth  would  be,  as  Owen 
says,  in  the  condition  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Romans 
when  it  consisted  only  of  men,  "it  had  like  to  have 
been  the  matter  of  a  single  generation."  They  cannot 
be  conceived  as  beseeching  sinners  to  be  reconciled  to 
God,  but  we,  should  we  imitate  them  in  this  regard, 
would  ill  discharge  our  duty  to  the  unconverted  souls 
around  us.  But  enough.  It  is  plain  that  the  argument 
proves  too  much,  and  is,  therefore,  nothing  worth.  It 
tries  to  prove  from  the  heavenly  world  what  we  have 
seen  some  endeavoring  to  prove  from  the  Jewish  tem- 
ple. Both  arguments  burst  from  their  own  plethora. 
If  God  had  commanded  us  to  do  what  is  done  in  heaven, 
we  might  make  the  effort  to  obey,  whatever  might  be 
the  success  or  failure  attending  it ;  but  until  such  a 


186  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP 

command  can  be  produced,  we  are  not  warranted  to 
turn  harpers  and  harp  upon  harps  in  the  church  on 
earth. 

(4.)  The  use  of  instrumental  music  in  the  church  is 
justified  upon  the  scriptural  principle  that  we  ought  to 
consecrate  every  talent  we  possess  to  the  service  of 
God.  This  argument  is  also  futile,  because  it  proves 
too  much.  It  would  prove  that  the  sculptor  should 
install  his  statues  in  the  sanctuary,  that  the  painter 
should  hang  his  pictures  upon  its  walls,  that  the  me- 
chanic should  contribute  the  products  of  his  skill  as 
"object-lessons"  for  the  elucidation  of  gospel  truths, 
and  that  the  architect  should,  by  massive  piles,  express 
the  greatness  of  God,  and  by  the  multiplicity  of  their 
minute  details  the  manifoldness  of  his  works.  Avaunt ! 
The  argument  is  suited  only  to  a  Papist. 

(5.)  Instrumental  music  is  among  the  Adiaphora — 
the  things  indifferent.  The  law  of  liberty  entitles  us  to 
its  use.  The  answer  is  easy.  That  law  exempts  us,  in 
things  sacred,  from  obedience  to  the  commandments  of 
men,  and,  so  far  as  our  individual  consciences  are  con- 
cerned, from  compliance  with  their  scruples  and  crot- 
chets. But  it  cannot  free  us  from  the  obligation  to 
obey  God.  Now,  God  commanded  the  Jews  to  use  in- 
strumental music  at  the  temple,  and  did  not  command 
them  to  employ  it  in  the  tabernacle  for  most  part  of  its 
existence,  or  in  the  synagogue.  They  obeyed  him  in 
both  respects.  It  is  manifest  that  it  was  not  a  thing 
indifferent  with  them.  Neither  is  it  with  Christians. 
The  truth  is,  that  it  is  an  abuse  of  language  to  rank 
among  things  indifferent  any  concomitant  of  public 
worship  which  becomes  a  part  and  parcel  of  it.     On 


ABGUMENTS  FOR  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC.  187 

the  contrary,  it  has  in  these  remarks  been  shown  that, 
so  far  from  being  in  that  category,  there  is  nothing 
about  which  the  living  God  expresses  so  vehement  a 
jealousy  as  the  method  in  which  men  approach  him  in 
worship.  Indifferent  ?  Nadab  and  Abihu  thought  so, 
but  they  made  a  dreadful  mistake. 

But  if  instrumental  music  is  regarded  as  a  thing  in- 
different, it  is  conceded  that  it  is  not  necessary ;  it  may 
or  may  not  be  used  ;  it  is  not  required  by  duty.  Here, 
then,  the  law  of  charity  comes  in,  and  challenges  obe- 
dience. It  is,  of  course,  admitted  that,  on  the  suppo- 
sition, the  liberty  of  the  individual  is  not  bound,  so  far 
as  his  views  and  his  private  acts  are  involved,  but  his 
practice,  in  the  presence  of  brethren  whom  he  may 
deem  weak,  is  bound  by  the  law  of  charity.  Is  not  this 
the  principle  asserted  by  the  inspired  apostle  in  regard 
to  the  eating  of  meat  offered  to  idols?  He  affirmed 
the  liberty  of  the  believer  to  eat  of  it.  But  the  law  of 
individual  liberty  was  checked  by  the  weaker  conscience 
of  his  brother,  to  which  the  law  of  charity  required  that 
respect  be  shown.  Paul  maintained  his  perfect  right 
to  eat,  but  declared:  "If  meat  make  my  brother  to 
offend,  I  will  eat  no  flesh  while  the  world  standeth,  lest 
I  make  my  brother  to  offend."  His  private  liberty 
was,  in  the  presence  of  a  weak  brother,  not  only  re- 
strained, but  controlled  by  the  higher  law  of  love.  If, 
therefore,  a  believer  chooses  to  regale  himself  with  the 
melody  or  harmony  of  instruments,  he  is  not  bound ; 
but  if  instrumental  music  in  public  worship  stumbles 
the  consciences  of  brethren,  regarded,  though  they  may 
-  entertaining  groundless  scruples  about  it,  as,  con- 
dly,  it  is  not  a  matter  of  obligation,  should  not  tin; 


188  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

law  of  charity  lead  its  advocates  to  say :  "  If  instru- 
mental music  in  public  worship  make  our  brethren  to 
offend,  we  will  not  employ  it  while  the  world  standeth, 
lest  we  make  our  brethren  to  offend."  There  are  those 
who,  when  they  hear  it,  pray  that  God  will  not  hold 
them  responsible  for  its  use  in  his  sanctuary.  They  are 
sincere  ;  and  if  it  be  a  thing  indifferent,  why  should  it 
not,  for  their  sake,  be  discarded  ?  The  law  of  brotherly 
charity  asks,  Why?  That  law  certainly  takes  prece- 
dence of  the  liberty  to  gratify  taste,  and  its  infraction 
cannot  be  unattended  with  guilt. 

2.  Arguments  derived  from  the  Confession  of  Faith : 
(1.)  It  is  not  claimed,  so  far  as  I  know,  by  the  advo- 
cates of  instrumental  music  that  it  is  necessary  to  any 
performance  at  all  of  the  act  of  singing  praise,  but  it  is 
claimed  that  it  is  necessary  to  the  "  decent  and  orderly  " 
performance  of  that  act.  It  is  justified  by  an  appeal 
to  the  last  clause  of  the  following  sentence  of  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith,  about  which  so  much  has  been  said 
in  the  course  of  the  foregoing  argument:  "There  are 
some  circumstances  concerning  the  worship  of  God 
and  government  of  the  church,  common  to  human  ac- 
tions and  societies,  which  are  to  be  ordered  by  the  light 
of  nature  and  Christian  prudence,  according  to  the  gen- 
eral rules  of  the  Word,  which  are  alioays  to  he  observed.''' 1 
Among  those  general  rules  of  the  Word  cited  in  the 
proof -texts,  supporting  this  whole  statement,  beginning, 
"  there  are  some  circumstances,"  is  the  following  :  "  Let 
all  things  be  done  decently  and  in  order."  This,  it 
is  claimed,  warrants  the  use  of  instrumental  music. 
Among  the  "all  things"  to  "be  done  decently  and  in 

1  Chap,  i.,  Sec.  vi. 


ARGUMENTS  FOB  I NSTBU MENTAL  MUSIC.  189 

order"  is  the  singing  of  praise,  and  instrumental  music 
is  necessary  to  this  thing  being  "done  decently  and  in 
order." 

First,  It  must  be  observed  that  the  last  clause  of  the 
statement  of  the  Confession,  the  clause  which  is  used 
in  this  argument  for  instrumental  music,  has  reference 
to  the  " circumstances "  mentioned  in  that  statement. 
It  is  these  circumstances,  and  not  something  else  dif- 
ferent from  them,  in  regard  to  which  "the  general  rules 
of  the  Word,"  including  this  one,  "Let  all  things  be 
done  decently  and  in  order,"  "are  always  to  be  ob- 
served." Now  it  has  already  been  clearly  pointed  out 
that  these  circumstances  are  circumstances  "common  to 
human  actions  and  societies."  It  is  precisely  such  cir- 
cumstances concerning  which  the  statement  of  the  Con- 
fession enjoins  that  they  be  ordered  according  to  the 
general  rules  of  the  Word.  It  is  precisely  such  circum- 
stanees,  consequently,  that  that  statement  requires  to 
"  be  done  decently  and  in  order."  The  question  before 
us,  then,  is  this :  Is  instrumental  music  one  of  those 
circumstances  ?  It  has,  in  a  previous  part  of  this  dis- 
cussion, by  a  somewhat  pains-taking  argument,  been 
proved  that  it  cannot  be  one  of  them.  Those  circum- 
stances have  been  shown  to  be  undistinctive  conditions 
upon  which  the  actions  of  all  societies  are  performed. 
They  are  common  to  them  all.  But  instrumental  music 
is  not  common  to  the  actions  of  all  societies.  It  can- 
not, therefore,  be  one  of  the  circumstances  indicated 
by  the  statement  in  the  Confession.  The  conclusion  is 
stable  that;  so  far  as  that  statement  is  concerned, 
it  is  not  necessary  t<>  the  decent  and  orderly  perform- 
ance of  the  singing  of  praise  as  a  part  of  church-wor- 

17 


190  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

ship.  This  particular  argument  in  favor  of  instrumental 
music  will  be  still  further  considered  as  the  discussion 
draws  towards  its  close. 

Secondly,  The  argument  takes  on  the  aspect  of  pre- 
posterous arrogance,  as  containing  an  indictment  of  the 
true  church  of  God  in  almost  all  the  centuries  of  the 
Christian  era  for  an  indecent  and  disorderly  singing  of 
praise  in  its  public  worship,  not  to  speak  of  the  church 
in  the  old  dispensation  in  its  ordinary  Sabbath-day 
services.  It  would  be  folly  to  test  the  question  of  the 
decent  and  orderly,  or  the  indecorous  and  disorderly, 
singing  of  praise  by  a  temporary  standard,  especially 
one  erected  in  a  modern  and  corrupt  condition  of  the 
nominal  church.  Shall  the  standard  by  which  the 
practice  of  the  Christian  church — leaving  out  of  ac- 
count the  Jewish — for  twelve  centuries  is  to  be  judged 
be  one  in  which  the  Church  of  Kome  slowly  and  reluc- 
tantly acquiesced  as  late  as  the  middle  or  the  close  of 
the  thirteenth  century?  And  by  this  standard  will  we 
convict  of  indecorous  and  disorderly  worship  the  Re- 
formed churches  of  Europe,  the  Swiss,  the  French  and 
the  Dutch,  the  churches  of  Scotland  for  centuries,  the 
English  Puritans  and  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Ire- 
land? Has  it  been  left  to  the  church  in  these  latter 
days  to  discover  the  only  decorous  and  orderly  way  in 
which  God's  praises  shall  be  sung?  The  supposition 
is  intolerable. 

The  same  considerations  avail  against  the  plea  that 
instrumental  music  is  a  help  in  the  singing  of  praise. 
If  the  church  of  Christ  has  not  felt  the  need  of  this  help 
during  the  greater  part  of  its  existence,  it  requires  no 
argument  to  show  that  she  can  do  without  it  now.     It 


Ai;<;i.M  i:\TS  FOB  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC.  191 

may  be  admitted  that  it  is  a  help  to  such  "  rendering"  (!) 
of  singing  as  is  demanded  by  cars  cultivated  for  the 

enjoyment  of  Italian  operas  and  the  like  artistic  per- 
formances. But  that  is  quite  a  different  tiling  from  ad- 
mitting that  it  is  a  help  to  the  singing  of  praise  by  hum- 
ble and  penitent  sinners,  by  the  afflicted  people  of  God 
passing  as  cross-hearing  pilgrims  through  a  world  to 
which  they  are  crucified  and  which  is  crucified  to  them. 
The  discussion  is  gratuitous  and  needless.  It  is  suffi- 
cient to  say,  that  that  cannot  be  a  true  help  to  worship 
which  the  Being  to  be  worshipped  does  not  himself 
approve. 

(2.)  It  is  contended  that  instrumental  music  is  to  be 
ranked  among  the  circumstances  allowed  by  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith,  and  that  this  is  proved  by  the  fact 
that  it  is  on  the  same  foot  as  other  circumstances  about 
which  there  is  no  dispute :  such  as  houses  of  worship, 
reading  sermons,  the  length  of  sermons,  of  prayers  and 
of  singing,  bells,  tuning-forks  and  pitch-pipes,  tune- 
books,  and  the  like. 

One  would  be  entitled  to  meet  this  argument  upon 
the  general  ground  already  so  often  and  earnestly  main- 
tained, that  all  the  circumstances  remitted  by  the  Con- 
fession to  the  discretion — the  natural  judgment — of  the 
church  are  common  to  human  actions  and  societies,  and 
are  such  as  belong  to  the  natural  sphere  in  which  the 
acts  of  all  societies  are  performed,  and,  therefore,  can- 
not be  distinctively  spiritual  or  even  ecclesiastical.  As 
instrumental  music,  used  in  professedly  spiritual  and 
actually  ecclesiastical  worship,  cannot  possibly  be  as- 
signed to  that  category,  it  is  for  that  patent  reason  ruled 
out  by  the  very  terms  of  the  Confession's  statement. 


192  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

This  ground  I  hold  to  be  impregnable.  But  inasmuch 
as  it  is  a  fact  that  certain  minds  do  consider  instru- 
mental music  as  saveable  to  the  church  for  the  reason 
that  it  may  be  viewed  as  standing  on  the  same  foot  with 
the  circumstances  which  have  been  mentioned,  I  will 
endeavor  to  meet  their  difficulties,  albeit  at  the  con- 
scious expense  of  strict  logical  consistency,  by  follow- 
ing this  argument  into  its  minute  details ;  and  I  pray 
that  the  Spirit  of  God  may  bestow  his  guidance  in  this 
last  step  of  the  discussion. 

First,  It  has  been  argued,  that  the  use  of  instru- 
mental music  is  a  circumstance  of  the  same  kind  with 
the  building  of  a  house  of  worship  and  the  selection  of 
its  arrangements ;  that  it  is  not  an  absolutely  necessary 
condition  of  the  church's  acts  that  it  should  hold  its 
meetings  in  edifices :  they  might  be  held,  as  has  often 
in  fact  been  done,  in  the  open  air.  To  this  the  obvious 
reply  is,  that  this  circumstance  is  one  common  to  the 
acts  of  all  societies.  They  must  meet  somewhere,  and 
it  is  of  course  competent  to  all  of  them  to  determine, 
whether  they  shall  be  subjected  to  the  inconveniences 
of  open-air  assemblages,  or  avail  themselves  of  the  ad- 
vantages afforded  by  buildings.  So  of  the  arrange- 
ments and  furniture  of  the  edifices  in  which  they  con- 
vene. Every  society,  even  an  infidel  society,  has  this 
circumstance  conditioning  its  meetings  and  acts,  either 
as  necessary  to  any  performance  of  them  or  as  neces- 
sary to  their  decorous  and  orderly  discharge.  But  in- 
strumental music  is  not  such  a  circumstance :  it  is  not 
common  to  human  actions  and  societies.  This  destroys 
the  alleged  analogy,  and  consequently  the  argument 
founded  upon  it  fails. 


ARGr.MFATs  FOB  [NSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC.  103 

s  mdhfy  Tlit>  Bame  disproof  is  applicable  to  the  as- 
sumed analogy  between  the  alleged  circumstance  of 
.instrumental  music  and  that  of  reading  sermons.  It 
is  urged  that  a  sermon  must  be  delivered  in  one  of  two 
ways :  either  with  or  without  reading,  and  there  is  dis- 
cretion left  to  the  church  to  elect  between  them.  If 
she  thinks  reading  the  better  way,  she  is  at  liberty  to 
employ  it.  So  with  the  choice  of  instrumental  music 
as  a  mode  in  which  praise  shall  be  sung.  There  might 
be,  as  there  has  been,  some  discussion  in  regard  to  the 
legitimacy  of  reading  sermons.  But  that  question  aside, 
and  the  argument  being  considered  on  its  own  ground, 
it  is  sufficient  to  reply  that  the  analogy  asserted  does 
not  obtain.  The  delivery  of  discourses,  speeches,  re- 
ports and  resolutions  is  an  act  common  to  all  human 
societies.  Now,  it  is  competent  to  all  societies  to  say 
whether  they  shall  be  simply  spoken  or  read,  whether 
the  delivery  shall  be  extemporaneous  or  from  manu- 
script. They  can,  each  for  itself,  determine  the  circum- 
stance of  the  mode  in  which  an  act  common  to  all  shall 
be  performed.  But  the  singing  of  praise  in  the  worship 
of  God  is  not  an  act  common  to  all  societies.  It  is 
therefore  not  one  in  regard  to  which  the  Confession 
grants  the  liberty  to  the  church  of  fixing  the  circum- 
stance of  the  mode  in  which  it  shall  be  done.1 

Thirdly,  The  same  line  of  argument,  it  is  contended, 
holds  good  with  reference  to  the  discretionary  power  of 
the  church  to  order  the  circumstances  of  the  length  of 

1  In  addition  to  this,  let  it  be  noticed  thai  in  preaching  t<>  men  wor- 
ship is  not  directly  offered  to  God;  in  singing  praise  it  is,  at  Least  in 

}  'art. 


194  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

sermons,  of  prayers,  and  of  singing.  But,  it  is  replied, 
all  societies  must,  of  necessity,  fix  the  time  allotted  to 
their  several  exercises,  or  their  meetings  would  be  fail- 
ures. Nature  itself  dictates  this.  The  church,  there- 
fore, has  the  natural  right  to  order  this  circumstance  in 
connection  with  all  her  services.  But  the  question  o 
determining  the  length  of  an  exercise  is  a  very  different 
one  from  that  of  introducing  the  exercise  at  all.  There 
is  no  analogy  between  the  determination  of  the  time  to 
be  allowed  to  all  acts,  and  the  determination  of  the  legiti- 
macy of  some  special  act.  The  adjustment  of  the  length 
of  its  exercises  is  a  circumstance  common  to  all  socie- 
ties. The  employment  of  instrumental  music,  as  a  con- 
comitant of  worship,  is  a  circumstance  peculiar  to  the 
church  as  a  distinctive  society.  The  analogy  in  every 
respect  breaks  down. 

Fourthly,  If  the  church  has  bells,  it  is  asked,  why 
may  it  not  have  organs?  They  are  both  instruments 
of  sound  which  serve  an  ecclesiastical  purpose.  The 
answer  is  so  obvious  that  one  feels  almost  ashamed  to 
give  it.  The  bell  is  not  directly  connected  with  wor- 
ship ;  the  organ  is.  The  bell  stops  ringing  before  the 
worship  begins,  the  organ  accompanies  the  worship 
itself.  There  is  not  the  least  likeness -between  them, 
so  far  as  this  question  is  concerned.  A  bell  simply 
marks  the  time  for  assembling.  So  does  a  clock ;  and 
we  may  as  well  institute  a  comparison  between  the 
hands  of  the  clock  at  a  certain  hour  and  instrumenta 
music  in  worship  after  that  hour,  as  between  the  sound 
of  the  bell  and  it.  The  question  is  in  regard  to  a  con- 
comitant of  worship,  not  as  to  something  that  precedes 
it  and  gives  way  to  it. 


Alinl'MI'Ms  Foi:  WSTBUMENTAL  BCUSIC.  196 

Fifthly,  It  is  by  some  gravely  contended  that  if 

tuning-forks  and  pitch-pipes  may  be  used,  so  may 
organs.  The  same  answer  as  was  returned  to  the  im- 
mediately foregoing  argument  is  pertinent  here.  Did 
those  who  submit  this  argument  ever  notice  the  use 
made  of  a  tuning-fork  or  a  pitch-pipe  by  a  leader  of 
singing?  It  is  struck  or  sounded  in  a  way  to  be  heard 
by  the  leader  himself,  and  when  by  means  of  it  he  lias 
got  the  pitch  of  the  tune  to  be  sung,  it  is  put  into  his 
pocket,  where  it  snugly  and  silently  rests  while  the  sing- 
ing proceeds.  It  no  more  accompanies  the  worship 
than  does  a  bell.  Like  it,  it  stops  sounding  before  the 
act  of  worship  begins.  What  analogy  is  there  between 
it  and  an  instrument  that  accompanies  every  note  of 
tin-  singing  by  a  corresponding  note  of  its  own.  As- 
sign to  the  organ  the  same  office  as  the  humbler  tuning- 
fork  or  pitch-pipe,  namely,  merely  to  give  the  leader  of 
the  simple  singing  the  pitch  of  the  tunes,  and  who 
would  object  to  it?  The  question  of  organs  would  be 
as  quiet  as  they  would  be.  One  toot  before  the  singing, 
and  then  they  would  be,  what  they  ought  to  be  during 
the  public  singing  of  praise,  as  silent  as  the  grave.  One 
cannot  help  wondering  that  the  admirers  of  this  "ma- 
jestic  instrument"  would  employ  a  comparison  which 
reduces  it  to  a  pitch  so  low ! 

Sixthly,  There  is  only  one  other  argument  of  this 
minute  class  which  will  be  considered.  It  is  one  which 
I  have  known  some  brethren  to  maintain  as  men  do  a 
last  redoubt.  It  is  argued  that  instrumental  music  is 
just  as  fairly  entitled  to  rank  among  the  circumstances 
indicated  by  the  Confession  of  Faith  as  is  a  tune-book. 


196  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IX  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

Does  a  tune-book  assist  the  singing  of  praise?  So 
does  an  organ.  If  the  church  has  discretion  in  em- 
ploying one  kind  of  assistance  to  singing,  why  not 
another  ? 

Has  it  not  occurred  to  the  minds  of  those  who  in- 
sist so  strenuously  upon  this  view  that  they  may  be 
using  a  tune-book  to  accomplish  an  office  to  which  it 
may  be  inadequate,  when  they  wield  it  to  knock  down 
arguments  derived  from  the  Old  Testament  and  the 
New  Testament  Scriptures,  from  the  old  dispensation 
and  the  new,  from  the  practice  of  the  Jewish  synagogue, 
of  the  apostles,  of  the  whole  church  for  twelve  hundred 
years,  and  of  the  Calvinistic  Reformed  Church  for  cen- 
turies? Does  it  not  occur  to  them  also  that  there  may 
be  a  flaw  .in  the  statement  of  their  argument?  Ex- 
panded, it  is  this:  Whatever  assists  the  singing  of 
praise  is  a  legitimate  circumstance ;  the  tune-book  and 
the  organ  alike  assist,  etc.,  therefore  they  are  alike 
legitimate  circumstances.  The  true  statement  would  be, 
whatever  is  necessary  to  the  singing  of  praise  is  a  legiti- 
mate circumstance ;  the  tune-book  and  the  organ  are  alike 
so  necessary ;  therefore  they  are  alike  legitimate  circum- 
stances. It  behooves  them  to  show  that  the  organ  is 
necessary  to  the  singing  of  praise.  It  is  not  enough  to 
say  that  it  assists  it.  They  cannot  prove  its  necessity. 
Praise  has  been  and  is  sung  without  the  organ.  But 
it  also  behooves  me  to  show  that  the  tune-book  is  ne- 
cessary to  the  singing  of  praise,  that  it  is  a  condition 
without  which  it  could  not  be  done.  If  this  can  be 
evinced,  as  the  organ  is  not  necessary  to  singing,  it 
does  not,  as  is  assumed,  stand  on  the  same  foot  with 
the  tune-book,  and  the  argument  is  unfounded. 


ARGUMENTS  FOR  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC.  197 

It  will  be  granted  thai  a  tune  is  necessary  to  modu- 
lated Hinging — that  is,  to  singing  which  is  not  merely 
the  prolongation  of  a  single  note,  and  that  could  not 
be  denominated  singing.  But  the  tune-book  gives  the 
tune.  The  tune  is  necessary  to  singing;  the  tune-book 
is  necessary  to  the  tune ;  therefore  the  tune-book  is  ne- 
oessary  t<>  singing.  Need  this  simple  argument  be 
pressed  ?  Whence  the  tune,  if  not  from  the  tune-book  ? 
Is  it  improvised  by  the  leading  singer?  Suppose  that 
it  may  be,  and  he  would  be  the  only  singer.  It  would 
be  impossible  for  others  to  unite  with  him. 

It  may  be  replied  that  the  organ  also  gives  the  tune. 
This  is  a  mistake.  The  organ  is  as  much  indebted  to 
the  tune-book  for  the  tune  as  is  a  leading  singer.  If 
the  organist  should  improvise  the  tune,  where  would 
be  the  singing  ?  It  will  hardly  be  contended  that  a  solo 
on  the  organ  would  be  the  singing  of  the  congregation, 
or  that  the  organ  sings  at  all. 

It  may  still  be  said  that  the  tune-book  is  not  neces- 
sary to  singing,  since  it  is  a  fact  that  singing  is  often 
done  without  it.  This  is  a  mistake  also.  The  tune- 
book  may  be  absent  as  a  book,  but  the  tune  it  contains 
is  present  in  the  mind  of  the  leading  singer.  He  re- 
members what  he  got  from  it.  It  is  a  necessity  to  him, 
whether  literally  absent  or  present.  He  cannot  sing 
without  the  tune,  and  the  tune  is  in  the  tune-book. 

Finally \  the  mighty  contest  may  yet  be  maintained 
on  the  ground  that  some  leading  singers  do  not  know 
the  musical  notes,  and,  therefore,  cannot  depend  on  the 
tune-book  for  the  tune.  True,  there  are  some  who  are 
ignorant  of  the  notes,  but  all  the  same  they  depend  on 


198  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

tlie  tune-book,  not  immediately,  but  mediately  and 
really.  For  the  tune  is  learned,  in  the  first  instance, 
only  from  some  one  who  does  know  the  notes  and  got 
the  tune  from  the  book.  The  tune-book  is  the  first 
cause  of  the  tune,  and  is  necessary  to  its  existence.  Of 
course,  tunes  are  learned  by  the  ear.  Most  members 
of  a  congregation  so  learn  them.  But  these  persons 
acquire  them  from  the  leading  singer,  and  he  received 
them  from  the  tune-book.  So  that,  look  at  the  matter 
as  we  may,  the  tune-book  is  necessary  to  the  singing  of 
praise  :  it  conditions  its  performance. 

If,  now,  it  be  objected  that  the  tune-book  is  a  cir- 
cumstance not  common  to  human  actions  and  societies, 
and  is  equally,  with  instrumental  music,  according  to 
this  argument,  excluded  from  the  discretionary  control 
of  the  church,  I  answer,  That  is  true.  It  is  circum- 
stances in  the  natural  sphere,  those  which  attend  ac- 
tions as  actions,  and  not  this  or  that  particular  action 
of  a  distinctive  society,  that  fall  within  the  discretion 
of  the  church.  Consequently  both  of  these  circum- 
stances— the  tune-book  and  instrumental  music — fall 
without  that  discretion.  They  both  condition  the  per- 
formance of  an  act  peculiar  to  the  church.  But  the 
difference  between  them  is  this :  One  is  necessary  to 
the  performance  of  a  commanded  duty,  namely,  the 
singing  of  praise,  and  the  other  is  not.  The  singing  of 
praise  is  undoubtedly  a  commanded  duty,  and  it  follows 
that  what  is  a  necessary  condition  of  its  discharge 
comes  also  under  the  scope  of  command.  It  is,  there- 
fore, not  discretionary  with  the  church  to  employ  it ;  it 
is  obligatory.     It  must  be  employed,  or  the  commanded 


ARGUMENTS  FOR  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC.  199 

duty  fails  to  be  done.  It  is  not  so  with  instrumental 
music.  It  is  not  a  condition  necessary  to  the  com- 
manded duty  of  singing  praise  ;  neither  is  it  a  natural 
circumstance  conditioning  the  acts  of  all  societies.  It 
is,  therefore,  neither  obligatory  upon  nor  discretionary 
with  the  church  to  use  it.  It  is  consequently  ex- 
cluded. 


VII. 

Concluding  Eemarks. 

The  foregoing  argument  has  proceeded  principally 
by  two  steps.  The  first  is  :  Whatsoever,  in  connection 
with  the  public  worship  of  the  church,  is  not  com- 
manded by  Christ,  either  expressly  or  by  good  and  ne- 
cessary consequence,  in  his  Word,  is  forbidden.  The 
second  is  :  Instrumental  music,  in  connection  with  the 
public  worship  of  the  church  is  not  so  commanded  by 
Christ.  The  conclusion  is :  Instrumental  music,  in 
connection  with  the  public  worship  of  the  church,  is 
forbidden.  If  the  premises  are  materially  true,  and  if 
they  are  logically  connected  in  the  argument,  the  con- 
clusion is  irresistible.  The  first  premise,  which  is  de- 
nied by  Romanists,  Prelatists,  and  Latitudinarians,  has 
been  established  by  proofs  derived  from  the  Scriptures. 
The  position  that  the  church  has  power  to  decree  rites 
connected  with  the  worship  of  God's  house,  rites  not 
prescribed  in  the  divine  Word,  is  confessedly  a  doctrine 
of  men,  making  a  substantive  addition  to  the  only  suffi- 
cient, complete  and  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice. 
Of  those  who  contend  for  this  principle,  the  Romanist 
alone  is  consistent.  It  is  plain  that  such  a  -discre- 
tionary power  in  the  church  could  only  be  grounded  in 
her  possession  of  continued  inspiration.  If  she  have 
that  gift  her  authority  is  equal  to  that  of  the  inspired 
organizers  and  instructors  of  the  church  themselves. 
She  can  supplement  the  Scriptures.     But  the  claim  to 


CONCLUDING  REMARKS.  201 

inspiration  can  only  be  substantiated  by  the  working  of 
miracles.  This  Rome  admits,  and  meets  the  require- 
ment by  appealing  to  her  miracles.  These  professed 
miracles  are,  however,  of  such  a  character  as  not  to  be 
placed  above  impeachment.  They  may  be  accounted 
for  upon  natural  principles.  They  never  rise  to  the 
point  of  creative  power,  nor  of  the  power  that  restores 
life  to  the  dead.  The  Protestant  church,  therefore,  re- 
jects the  claim  of  Home  to  inspiration  and  infallibility, 
and  is  consequently  bound  to  deny  the  authority  of 
that  church,  or  any  other,  to  decree  rites  and  ceremo- 
oies  not  prescribed  in  the  Word  of  God.  For  a  church 
theoretically  to  make  such  a  claim  is  to  confess  itself, 
to  that  extent,  apostate.  It  is  in  flagrant  rebellion 
against  the  sole  authority  of  Christ  as  expressed  in  his 
Word.  The  past  history  of  the  church  is  a  comment 
upon  the  correctness  of  this  indictment. 

The  second  premise,  namely,  that  instrumental  music 
is,  in  connection  with  the  public  worship  of  the  church, 
not  commanded  by  Christ,  either  expressly  or  by  good 
and  necessary  consequence  in  his  Word,  is  acknow- 
ledged to  be  true  by  all  consistent  Presbyterians.  One 
would,  therefore,  argue  that  they  would  exclude  it  from 
the  public  worship  of  the  church  ;  and  so,  indeed,  they 
have  done  until  a  comparatively  recent  period.  On  that 
very  ground  they  have  justly  refused  to  employ  it. 
How  is  the  amazing  change  to  its  employment  to  be  ac- 
counted for?  How  is  it  that  in  Scotland  such  a  revo- 
lution against  the  historic  position  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  is  now  in  full  progress?  How  is  it  that  in  the 
conservative  Scotch-Irish  Church  so  formidable  an 
effort  is  making  to  upset  its  testimony  and  its  practice 
18 


202  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

in  relation  to  this  subject?  How  is  it  that  such  men 
as  Breckinridge  and  Thornwell,  in  the  American  Pres- 
byterian Church,  were  hardly  cold  in  their  graves  be- 
fore, in  the  very  places  where  they  had  thundered 
forth  their  contentions  for  the  mighty  principle  which 
demands  a  divine  warrant  for  every  element  of  doc- 
trine, government  and  worship,  and  where  they  had,  in 
obedience  to  that  principle,  utterly  refused  to  admit  in- 
strumental music  into  the  church,  the  organ  pealed 
forth  its  triumphs  over  their  views  ?  How  is  this  state 
of  things  to  be  explained  ? 

There  is  a  class  who  look  with  indifference  upon  the 
question,  who  are  willing  that  human  opinions  shall 
prevail  and  human  tastes  shall  be  gratified  in  the  ar- 
rangements of  public  worship.  It  is  needless  to  say 
that,  as  they  disregard  alike  the  teachings  of  God's 
Word  and  the  testimonies  of  their  forefathers,  they  are 
countenancing  a  course  which  must,  if  not  interrupted 
by  the  extraordinary  interposition  of  divine  providence 
or  divine  grace,  land  the  church  in  open  apostasy  from 
the  gospel. 

There  is  a  second  class  who  maintain  the  prelatical 
theory,  that  whatsoever  is  not  expressly — that  is,  in  ex- 
plicit terms — forbidden  in  the  New  Testament  Scrip- 
tures is  permitted.  Those  who  hold  this  view  break 
with  the  Westminster  standards,  play  into  the  hands  of 
Eitualists,  and  convert  the  ordinances  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  as  the  maintainers  of  the  same  principle 
have  those  of  the  Anglican,  into  propaedeutics  for  the 
cultus  of  Rome. 

There  is  a  third  class  who  hold  that,  as  instrumental 
music  was  commanded  of  God  in  the  Old  Testament 


COKOLUDING  REMARKS.  203 

church,  it  is  justifiable  in  that  of  the  New  Testament. 
It  is  one  of  tin1  things  which  God  himself  has  pre- 
scribed. This  is  very  extraordinary  ground  for  Chris- 
tians to  take.  It  is  hard  to  believe  that  they  would 
contend  for  the  following  positions,  logically  validated 
by  their  view:  That  every  positive  enactment  of  the 
divine  will  under  the  old  dispensation  passes  over  un- 
changed in  its  authority  to  the  new;  that  the  Christian 
church  is  the  Jewish  temple,  or  even  modelled  in  con- 
formity with  it;  that  the  types  of  the  Old  Testament 
are  continued  in  the  new  ;  that  what  was  not  warrant- 
able to  the  Jew  in  the  worship  of  the  synagogue  is 
justifiable  to  the  Christian  in  that  of  the  church;  that 
all  the  external  elements  of  worship  authorized  in  the 
Psalms  are  allowable  in  the  Christian  church,  for,  upon 
that  ground,  animal  sacrifices  would  also  be  proper  ; 
and  that  the  whole  nominal  church,  from  the  apostles 
to  Thomas  Aquinas,  in  1250,  was  mistaken  in  regard 
to  this  matter.  Still,  carrying  with  it  these  conse- 
quences as  it  does,  this  view  is  supported  by  some  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church. 

There  is  a  fourth  class — and  it  is  believed  to  be  the 
largest — who  hold  theoretically  to  the  great  principle, 
that  whatsoever  is  not  commanded  is  forbidden,  but 
deny  its  applicability  to  instrumental  music  in  connec- 
tion with  the  public  worship  of  the  church.  They  con- 
tend that  it  is  one  of  the  circumstances  which  the  Con- 
f. 88 i<>n  of  Faith  assigns  to  tin;  discretionary  control  of 
the  church.  This  is  probably  the  chief  explanation  of 
the  wonderful  change  that  is  passing  over  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  sphere  of  worship.  It  is  to  be 
feared  that  very  few  of  her  ministers  and  ruling  elders 


204  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

have  ever  thoroughly  studied  the  Doctrine  of 'Circum- 
stances. How  many  of  them  have  ever  expounded  it  to 
the  people  over  whom  the  Holy  Ghost  has  made  them 
overseers?  Nothing  is  more  common  than  to  hear  it 
said  that  this  question  is  one  concerning  a  "circum- 
stantial detail"  of  subordinate  value,  and  that  the  issue, 
as  one  of  minor  importance,  must  give  way  to  others  of 
more  commanding  interest  which  are  pressing  upon  the 
church.  This  confusion  of  thought  would  be  surpris- 
ing were  it  not  so  general.  What  a  profound  mistake 
is  couched  in  such  remarks!  Instead  of  the  circum- 
stances relegated  by  the  Confession  to  the  discretion  of 
the  church  being  circumstantial  details  of  worship,  they 
are  not  details  of  worship  at  all.  Instead  of  their  be- 
ing of  secondary  importance,  they  are  indispensable — 
not  as  parts  of  worship,  but  as  natural  conditions  of  its 
performance.  Without  them  there  would  be,  there 
could  be,  no  joint  worship.  The  assemblies  of  the 
saints  would  be  a  dream. 

The  change  which  is  taking  place  more  and  more  in 
the  worship  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  is  due  to  the 
combined  influence  of  the  views  held  by  all  these 
classes,  but  the  chief  peril  results  from  that  maintained 
by  the  last  which  has  been  named.  It  is  almost  in- 
conceivable that  the  majority  of  the  officers  and  mem- 
bers of  the  Presbyterian  Church  can  have  abandoned 
the  consecrated  principle  that  a  divine  warrant  is  needed 
for  every  element  which  enters  into  the  worship  of  God's 
house.  Were  that  so,  open  apostasy  in  the  depart- 
ment of  worship  would  be  acknowledged.  But  of  what 
avail  is  the  professed  acceptance  of  the  principle,  if  its 
application  be   refused?     How  it   happens   that   this 


CONCLUDING  REMARKS.  205 

principle,  which  was  construed  by  the  Presbyterian 
reformers  and  the  Cramers  of  the  Westminster  stan- 
dards as  excluding  instrumental  music  from  public  wor- 
ship, and  was  so  applied  by  the  Presbyterian  Church 
almost  universally  for  centuries  after  the  Reformation, 
is  now  interpreted  in  such  a  way  as  to  admit  this 
Popish  innovation  into  the  once  simple  and  evangelical 
services  of  that  church,  defies  comprehension  except 
upon  one  supposition.  It  is,  that  the  Presbyterian 
Church  is  slackening  her  grasp  upon  her  ancient  testi- 
monies, broadening  her  practice  in  conformity  with  the 
demands  of  worldly  taste,  and  is  therefore  more  and 
more  treading  the  path  of  defection  from  the  scriptural 
principles  which  she  professes.  The  revolution  in  her 
practice  began  in  the  American  Church  scarcely  be- 
yond the  recollection  of  some  now  living,  and  certainly 
in  the  Scottish  Churches  within  that  of  those  who  are 
not  yet  fifty  years  of  age.  But  once  begun,  what  rapid 
progress  it  made!  What  would  Gillespie  and  Calder- 
wood  now  say,  what  Chalmers  and  Candlish,  Cunning- 
ham and  Begg,  what  Mason,  Breckinridge  and  Thorn- 
well —  what  would  they  say,  were  they  permitted  to  rise 
from  their  graves,  and  revisit  the  scenes  of  their  labors 
—the  churches  for  which  they  toiled  and  prayed? 

It  is  evident  that  a  great  change  has  taken  place. 
Now,  either  it  has  been  for  the  better  or  for  the  worse. 
If  it  be  contended  that  it  is  for  the  better,  these  great 
men.  and  thousands  who  thought  as  they  did,  are  pro- 
nounced to  have  been  ignorant  of  the  Scriptures  and 
the  principles  of  the  Presbyterian  system.     Who  are 

they  that    will    assume  such   a   censorship?      Let  them 

by  argument  prove  their  claim  to  this  arrogated  supe- 


206  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

riority.  If  they  cannot — and  they  certainly  have  not 
yet  done  it — let  them  abandon  the  unwarrantable  at- 
tempt to  revolutionize  the  long-standing  and  scriptural 
practice  of  their  church,  and,  ere  it  be  too  late,  return 
to  the  good  old  paths  trodden  by  their  fathers.  We 
are  not  bound  to  wear  the  yoke  of  human  authority,  it 
will  be  said.  No.  But  these  men  wore  the  yoke  of 
divine  authority,  and  we  ought  to  do  the  same.  This 
is  your  own  human  assertion,  it  will  be  replied.  Yes. 
But  it  is  an  assertion  proved  by  irrefragable  argument, 
founded  on  the  Scriptures,  the  Presbyterian  standards 
and  the  history  of  the  true  Church  of  Christ.  The 
burden  of  proof  rests  upon  those  who  have  made,  or 
who  countenance,  this  change.  They  offer  proof  de- 
rived from  the  principles  of  nature  and  from  human 
taste.  What  argument  from  Scripture  is  presented  is 
such  as  would  make  us  turn  Jews  and  worship  at  the 
temple.  It  would  not  even  convert  us  into  Jews  who 
worshipped  at  the  synagogue.  It  is  an  argument  which 
would  take  the  Christian  church  over  the  ruins  of  the 
synagogue  back  to  the  temple,  and  in  effect  re-enact 
the  madness  of  Julian  by  an  attempt  to  construct  again 
that  abrogated  institute. 

But  whatever  may  be  the  want  of  satisfactory  argu- 
ment to  ground  this  wide-spread  and  astounding  de- 
fection from  the  old,  conservative  position  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  the  mournful  fact  is  patent,  that  the 
congregations  which  that  church  embraces  are  more 
and  more  succumbing  to  its  baleful  influence.  The 
ministers  who  are  opposed  to  the  unscriptural  move- 
ment are,  many  of  them  at  least,  indisposed  to  throw 
themselves  into  opposition  to  its  onward  rush.     They 


CONCLUDING  REMARKS.  207 

are  unwilling  to  make  an  issue  with  their  people  upon 

this  question.  They  are  reluctant  to  characterize  the 
employment  of  instrumental  music  in  public  worship 
as  a  sin.  But  a  sin  it  is,  if  there  be  any  force  in  the 
argument  which  opposes  it.  The  people  ought  to  be 
taught  that  in  using  it  they  rebel  against  the  law  of 
Christ,  their  King. 

It  bodes  ill  for  the  church  that  this  subject  is  now 
so  often  treated  in  a  flippant  and  even  jocular  maimer. 
The  question  of  the  use  of  instrumental  music  in  the 
public  worship  of  God's  house  is,  for  example,  some- 
times placed  upon  the  same  foot  with  that  in  regard  to 
the  use  of  tobacco.  Both  questions  are  scouted  as 
equally  illegitimate  and  equally  trivial.  Is  tobacco 
ever  mentioned  in  the  Word  of  God?  Is  it  forgotten 
that  a  private  habit  of  an  individual  is  a  vastly  differ- 
ent thing  from  an  action  which  modifies  the  public, 
solemn  singing  of  God's  praise  by  a  congregation  of 
professed  worshippers  ?  Such  levity  partakes  of  pro- 
fanity. It  makes  a  mock  of  holy  things.  The  indul- 
gence of  this  temper  by  our  church  courts  will  betoken 
the  departure  of  our  glory.  It  is  not  less  than  shock- 
big  to  suppose  that  the  church  can  make  light  of  a 
subject  about  which  God's  jealousy  has  smoked,  and 
his  anger  has  broken  out  into  a  consuming  flame.  If 
she  will  employ  instruments  of  music,  let  her  at  least 
refrain  from  fiddling  while  many  of  her  children  are 
mourning  over  what  they  feel  to  be  the  corruption  of 
her  worship  and  the  decay  of  her  spirituality.  Nero 
fiddled  while  Rome  was  burning,  and  Belshazzar  was 
rating  the  vessels  of  God's  sanctuary  in  the  midst 


208  INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHURCH  WORSHIP. 

of  revelry  when  the  mystic  hand  wrote  on  the  wall  of 
his  palace  the  sentence  of  doom. 

Those  of  us  who  protest  against  this  revolution  in 
Presbyterian  worship  are  by  some  pitied,  by  others 
ridiculed,  and  by  others  still  denounced  as  fanatics.  If 
we  are,  we  share  the  company  of  an  innumerable  host 
of  fanatics  extending  from  the  day  of  Pentecost  to  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  We  refuse  not  to 
be  classed,  although  consciously  unworthy  of  the  honor, 
with  apostles,  martyrs  and  reformers.  But  neither 
were  they  mad,  nor  are  we.  We  "speak  the  words  of 
truth  and  soberness."  Mindful  of  the  apostolic  injunc- 
tion, "Prove  all  things,"  we  submit  arguments  derived 
from  Scripture,  from  the  formularies  of  our  church  and 
from  the  consensus  of  Christ's  people,  and  respectfully, 
invoke  for  them  the  attention  of  our  brethren.  We 
call  upon  them  to  examine  these  arguments,  and  either 
disprove  or  adopt  them.  But  should  they  be  dismissed 
without  notice,  and  our  faithful  remonstrances  be  un- 
heeded, we  humbly,  but  earnestly,  warn  the  church  of 
the  evil  and  bitter  consequences  which  will,  we  verily 
believe,  be  entailed  by  that  corruption  of  public  wor- 
ship which  has  been  pointed  out ;  and  against  it,  in 
the  name  of  the  framers  of  our  venerable  standards, 
in  the  name  of  the  reformers,  divines  and  martyrs  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  name  of  Christ's  true 
witnesses  in  the  centuries  of  the  past,  in  the  name 
of  the  inspired  apostles,  and,  above  all,  in  the  name 
of  our  glorious  King  and  Head,  we  erect  our  solemn 
PKOTEST. 


